Highest Safety Rating for Adult Cardiac Surgery Awarded to Mount Sinai Surgeon
David H. Adams, MD, Cardiac Surgeon-in-Chief and Chair of Cardiovascular Surgery at Mount Sinai Health System, has received the highest "two-star" safety rating from the New York State Department of Health. The Department also named Dr. Adams as the highest-volume valve surgeon in New York State, and The Mount Sinai Hospital as having the state’s highest-volume valve surgery program. This marks the third consecutive year that Dr. Adams has been awarded the prestigious designation for safety rates significantly exceeding the statewide average.
"Safety is an important indicator for clinical excellence, and we made this a key priority at our Mitral Valve Repair Center at The Mount Sinai Hospital,” said Dr. Adams. “We continually strive for these results because our patients deserve world-class cardiac surgery care.”
The new data released by the Department of Health reports on the outcomes of patient discharges at 40 New York State hospitals from December 1, 2012, to November 30, 2015. During this three-year period, Dr. Adams achieved a significantly higher safety level (.52) than the statewide average (2.25) while performing 1,033 total valve surgery cases. Dr. Adams is one of four surgeons to receive the two-star rating in the state.
The “Adult Cardiac Surgery in New York State 2013-2015” report tracked data for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, valve repair or replacement surgery, transcatheter aortic valve replacement, and readmissions after CABG.
"Dr. Adams and our cardiac surgery team continue to drive patient safety to ever greater levels of quality every year,” says Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, Director of Mount Sinai Heart and Physician-in-Chief of The Mount Sinai Hospital. "This latest recognition of Dr. Adams is just one of the many reasons we are proud to have him as a true leader of Mount Sinai Heart.”
Dr. Adams will become President of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS), the world's oldest and most prestigious society dedicated to thoracic disease, this month. He has set national benchmarks, with degenerative mitral valve repair rates exceeding 99 percent. Repair of the native valve is the preferred treatment for patients with mitral valve disease, instead of replacement with a prosthetic valve. This requires special expertise, but the advantages for the patient are significant and include improved life expectancy, avoidance of long-term anticoagulation (use of blood thinners), and better preservation of native heart function. For more information about our Mitral Valve Repair Center at Mount Sinai Heart call 212-659-6820 or visit https://www.mitralvalverepair.org.
About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with more than 43,000 employees working across eight hospitals, over 400 outpatient practices, nearly 300 labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time — discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.
Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 7,300 primary and specialty care physicians; 13 joint-venture outpatient surgery centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and more than 30 affiliated community health centers. We are consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals, receiving high "Honor Roll" status, and are highly ranked: No. 1 in Geriatrics and top 20 in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Neurology/Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonology/Lung Surgery, Rehabilitation, and Urology. New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked No. 12 in Ophthalmology. U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Children’s Hospitals” ranks Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital among the country’s best in several pediatric specialties.
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