December 8, 1999Dear Valued National Database Participant:
The Society of Thoracic Surgeons National Database has experienced an exciting and busy year. Many changes have taken place over the course of the last year and we anticipate many more exciting things to happen. We would like to take this opportunity to thank each of you for your hard work put toward the National Database effort. Without your commitment and dedication this endeavor would not be nearly as successful as it is.As most of you know the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) completed its first harvest for the National Database. The STS is extremely pleased with the success of this harvest and look forward to providing you with data that is relevant to your practice and will allow you to improve the quality of care you provide your patients. With the expertise at the DCRI as well as committee members of the National Database, risk models for both Valve and Valve/CABG were developed. This year's annual report will include risk - adjusted data not only for CABG procedures but also for Valve and Valve/CABG procedures. The report will look somewhat different this year, as the DCRI will display your data benchmarked against data in your region and also benchmarked against the overall STS data. We are confident you will find these reports valuable and useful in your practice.
Another area of excitement this past year has been opening the software market up to many different vendors. To date there are four companies who have passed the first phase of validation and three other companies in the process. We are confident to have 4-6 vendors fully certified by the end of the year. The latest updates to the software vendors becoming certified can be found on our web page at http://www.sts.org/doc/2654. As you begin to purchase STS certified software please discuss with your prospective vendor the issue of data conversion so that you are certain to have your 1998 data transferred forward.
Please note that the next harvest from the DCRI is scheduled to begin in March 2000. This will be data that has been collected in 1998 and 1999 and initiate our semiannual reporting schedule. We are hopeful that many of you will have purchased new software by that date and have had all of your historical data converted to the new STS format. The STS and DCRI conducted a conference last month call with those vendors who have signed contracts to discuss data conversion. The call was extremely productive and the STS and DCRI will be sharing with the vendors the relevant material needed to allow for a smooth data conversion at your site. For those of you who are not on new software by March 2000 and have not had your historical data converted, an alternative plan will be discussed at a later time.
By January 1, 2000 there is a newly modified data set and definitions which are included in the new software. If you are not already collecting data on the new software by January 1, 2000 we ask that you collect those procedures on the new data collection form until you have acquired new software. You will have until August 1, 2000 to get all of those cases entered into new software. It is imperative that you make January 1, 2000 the date to begin to use new definitions and elements as this begins to impact the analysis data set for future harvests. We recognize that this may be inconvenient to you, but it is important that this be followed.
The latest STS Specifications (Version 2.35) for Adult Cardiac Surgery Database follow:
- Core Data Elements - Summary (121 KB PDF file).
- Core Data Elements - Full Specifications (518 KB PDF file*).
- Explanation of Terms used in the specifications (18 KB PDF file*).
- Software Specifications describe requirements for software to become STS-certified. (30 KB PDF file*)
*Note: To view a document that is in PDF format, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. (Download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.)
We would like to remind each of you about the 4th Annual Datamanagers meeting being held in conjunction with the STS annual meeting in Ft. Lauderdale. The date of the meting is Sunday January 30th. Many of you have already sent in your registration forms that you received in the mail and we are hopeful that others will do so also. If you have not received any material regarding the meeting, you can download it now or contact Mary Eiken at the STS headquarters office at 312-644-6610. At this meeting the vendors who have signed contracts with the STS will be available to demonstrate and answer any questions you might have with respect to their software products. The vendors will be available on Saturday January 29th from 1:00 - 5:00pm at the registration area for data managers and again on Sunday from 7:00 - 5:00 during the meeting. There will be a welcoming reception on Saturday from 4:00 - 6:00 pm. More details regarding this and the vendor space will be forwarded to you in the confirmation letter once you have registered for the meeting. We strongly urge you to take advantage of these opportunities.
Thank you again for your dedication and support of the National Database. We wish you a safe and happy holiday season.
Sincerely,
Fred Grover, MD
Chair, National DatabaseMary Eiken, MS
Director, National Database