Background: An inter-institutional collaboration between a quaternary hospital (QH) with a high volume of cardiac surgery and a community-based, tertiary hospital (TH) with a newly established cardiac surgery program was established.
Methods: We retrospectively reviewed data of patients admitted to the TH between September 2015 and June 2017 for cardiac surgery. The decision to transfer a patient to the QH was based on a Society of Thoracic Surgeon-Predicted Risk of Mortality (STS-PROM) score of ≥ 3%, the potential need for hemodialysis, and other risk factors. The same team of surgeons performed operations at both hospitals. We analyzed the perioperative outcomes of the patients and the referral pattern.
Results: A total of 116 patients met eligibility criteria; 105 underwent surgery at the TH, while 11 were transferred to the QH. Among the 11 patients transferred to the QH, eight had a score of 3% (median = 8.2 [IQR 5.7-25.0]). The patients transferred to the QH prior to surgery had a significantly higher STS-PROM score (P = ≤ .001). Overall, the mortality of patients who underwent surgery at the TH was 0.9% (1/105); while surgeries at the QH had a mortality rate of 0% (0/11).
Conclusion: The collaborative effort between high-volume cardiac surgery programs and emerging community-based hospitals showed acceptable outcomes in perioperative cardiac surgical mortality. Elevated STS-PROM scores (>3%), previous sternotomy and anticipation of coagulopathy, and low left ventricular ejection fraction or dilated ventricles are factors that influenced the need to transfer from a TH to QH.