STS HIPAA Information:
HIPAA Information
STS National Database
The following document, STS National Database and Outcomes Program Participation Manual, provides an excellent introduction to the STS National Database and considerations regarding participants.
STS National Database and Outcomes Program Participation Manual 
STS National Database Brochures
U.S. Maps of Current STS National Database Participants per State (as of 8.23.2010)
Adult Cardiac Surgery Database Participant Map
General Thoracic Surgery Database Participant Map
Congenital Heart Surgery Database Participant Map
STEP 1 - Complete an STS Participant Contact Form
Each potential participant will need to complete a Participant Contact Form and submit it to the STS. The Contact Form provides STS with basic demographic information for all individuals who will be involved in the database.
The information required on the Contact Form is as follows:
1) Identification of the STS software vendor selected
2) Identification and demographic information for:
Primary Data and File Manager
Backup Data and File Manager
Data Quality Report Recipient
National Report Recipient
Billing Contact
Contract Contact
Surgeon Representative
Participant Surgeons
The Contact Form and a form describing the roles of all the parties can be accessed using the link below:
Once STS receives your Participant Contact Form, the Participation Agreement and Business Associate and Data Use Agreement will be sent to you.
Note for Current Participants: If you are already an active participant in the STS National Database and want to update your surgeon list, submit a Schedule A signature sheet along with the contact form above for each surgeon being added:
SCHEDULE A - SURGEON SIGNATURE SHEETS
SCHEDULE B - ANESTHESIOLOGIST SIGNATURE SHEETSAdult Cardiac Surgery Database and/or Congenital Heart Surgery Database
SCHEDULE A - SURGEON SIGNATURE SHEET
Adult Cardiac Surgery Database Schedule A - Surgeon Signature FormGeneral Thoracic Surgery Database
SCHEDULE A - SURGEON SIGNATURE SHEET - Indicate "General Surgeon" for each general surgeon added.
General Thoracic Surgery Database Schedule A - Surgeon Signature Form
Congenital Heart Surgery Database
SCHEDULE A - SURGEON SIGNATURE SHEET
Congenital Heart Surgery Database Schedule A - Surgeon Signature Form
SCHEDULE B - ANESTHESIOLOGIST SIGNATURE SHEET
Congenital Heart Surgery Database Schedule B - Anesthesiologist Signature Form and Contact Sheet
Examples of completed agreements are listed below:
Agreement Samples
For additional assistance or to mail the executed agreements use the STS contact information below:
Gerry Tarafa
Operations Manager, STS National Database
The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
633 North Saint Clair Street, Suite 2320
Chicago, IL 60611
Phone: 312/202-5833
Fax: 312/202-5867
gtarafa@sts.org
Once signed by both parties, a copy of the agreement will be returned to you.
Step 3 - Purchase STS Certified or Harvest Compliant Software
Each potential STS National Database participant will need to purchase commercial software in order to submit its surgical procedures to the STS data warehouse and analysis center, Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI).
The link below provides contact information for all the software vendors who offer STS Certified Software or STS Harvest Compliant Software for each of the three STS National Databases: Adult Cardiac Surgery Database, General Thoracic Surgery Database, and Congenital Heart Surgery Database.
Information on all software vendors is located on the following link:
STS National Database Software Vendor Information
Step 4 - Harvest Submission
Each of the three STS National Databases, Adult Cardiac Surgery Database, General Thoracic Surgery Database, and the Congenital Heart Surgery Database has its respective timeline for data harvests.
The links below provide a .PDF timeline for each of the three databases:
2010 Adult Cardiac Surgery Database Harvest Schedule
2010 General Thoracic Surgery Database Harvest Schedule
2010 Congenital Heart Surgery Database Harvest Schedule2009 Adult Cardiac Surgery Database Harvest Schedule
2009 General Thoracic Surgery Database Harvest Schedule - Revised
2009 Congenital Heart Surgery Database Harvest Schedule - Revised2008 Adult Cardiac Surgery Harvest Timeline
2008 General Thoracic Surgery Harvest Timeline
2008 Congenital Heart Surgery Harvest Timeline
Once your data have been submitted to DCRI, a Data Quality Report (DQR) will be sent to the individual identified as your DQR Recipient.
For any questions related to this report or your clinical data submission, please contact your respective Clinical Data Specialist at DCRI.
The Clinical Data Specialists (CDS) at DCRI are assigned by state:
Adult Cardiac Surgery Database:
Haywood A. Allen, Jr. - haywood.allen@duke.edu
Carolyn Lumpkins - carolyn.lumpkins@duke.edu
Carol Elliot - carol.elliott@duke.edu
General Thoracic Surgery Database and Congenital Heart Surgery Database (all states):
Leigh Ann Jones - leigh.jones@duke.edu - Primary CDS
Carol Elliot - carol.elliott@duke.edu - Backup CDS
Select the link below to open a map of the US to identify your Clinical Data Specialist for the Adult Cardiac Surgery Database:
Map of DCRI Clinical Data Specialists
Accessing your STS National Report
The STS National Reports are now online and accessible by each Participant's National Report Recipient and/or Primary Data and File Contact.
Once you have been notified by your CDS that your National Report is ready, reports will be accessible via the followng link: https://outcomes.dcri.duke.edu/registry/
For additional harvest information, to access the data collection form, or to review the data specifications for any of the three databases, please refer to www.sts.org/datamanager.
Contact STS:
You are always welcome to contact Gerry Tarafa at GTarafa@sts.org or 312/202-5833 for guidance through the participation process.
