PUBLIC RELEASE OF CARDIAC-SURGERY OUTCOMES DATA IN NEW-YORK - WHAT DONEW-YORK-STATE CARDIOLOGISTS THINK OF IT

Background and Objective: Since 1990, risk-adjusted outcomes for patie nts undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery in New York state have been released to the public. The purpose of this study was to ass ess the extent to which referring cardiologists share these data with patients and use these data to make referrals. Methods: A survey quest ionnaire was sent to all cardiologists in New York in the New York Sta te Chapter of the American College of Cardiology. Results: Four hundre d fifty cardiologists responded to the survey. Most (94%) found the re port ''easy to read.'' A majority (67%) found the report to be ''very accurate'' or ''somewhat accurate in capturing differences in the perf ormance of cardiac surgeons, whereas 33% found it to be ''not at all a ccurate.'' Twenty-two percent reported that they ''routinely discuss t he reports with their patients,'' and 38% responded that the informati on has affected their referrals to surgeons very much'' Or ''somewhat. '' Conclusions: A majority of cardiologists has not generally changed their well-established referral patterns as a result of the New York c oronary artery bypass graft surgery reports. However, there has been a modest impact on referrals resulting from he distribution of these re ports. The findings also suggest that increased dialogue between clini cians and policy makers regarding the format and structure of public r eleases would be a valuable undertaking.