In 2023, the first major update to pediatric heart surgery recommendations in more than 20 years was published—marking an important step forward in how U.S. hospitals care for children with congenital heart disease.
The effort to improve care and outcomes was developed by congenital heart surgeons, pediatric cardiologists, cardiac intensive care doctors, nursing and many other healthcare professionals from across the nation. The endeavor was led by the Congenital Heart Surgeons’ Society in collaboration with 15 leading professional societies, including the American Heart Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, as well as specialists from children’s hospitals across the country.
The result was the first multidisciplinary consensus recommendations for centers performing pediatric heart surgery in the U.S.
The cohort put forth two tiers of recommendations, encompassing structure (staffing, technology and other characteristics), processes (the way care is delivered), and outcomes across various measures.
- Essential Care Centers: Recommendations for essential services and fundamental components to promote high-quality care for any pediatric heart surgery program.
- Comprehensive Care Centers: Recommendations to optimize comprehensive and high-complexity pediatric heart surgery.
What does this mean for families?
At Riley Children’s Health, our pediatric heart surgery program meets the criteria for a Comprehensive Care Center—the top tier outlined in the recommendations. This means we provide advanced care through highly skilled specialists in a comprehensive heart center, with a focus on safety and the best outcomes.
The recommendations suggest that children at the highest risk and with the most complex heart conditions are cared for at a Comprehensive Care Center like Riley Children’s.
What makes us a Comprehensive Care Center?
- We perform more than 500 heart surgeries annually, including neonatal open-heart surgery
- Indiana’s only pediatric and congenital heart transplantation program with access to all available ventricular assist devices (VADs) for children and adults with advanced heart failure
- Three American Board of Thoracic Surgery (ABTS)-certified pediatric heart surgeons with deep experience in congenital heart surgery
- Specially designed cardiac operating suites and a dedicated operating room (OR) team available 24/7—and the OR is capable of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and remains readily available for any pediatric and adult congenital cardiac emergency
- Pediatric cardiologists use specialized ultrasound in the OR, called transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), during pediatric and adult congenital heart surgery
- Committed to quality and safety, Riley Children’s holds multiple accreditations from the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC) in fetal and pediatric cardiovascular imaging, electrophysiology (EP), and cardiac catheterization
- Riley Children’s is a Platinum Level Center of Excellence for ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation), one of the most advanced forms of life support, and ECMO is available 24/7 along with a team of ECMO specialists
- The Riley Heart Center participates in public reporting of surgical outcomes through The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS), and maintains an overall observed to expected mortality ratio as expected based on our center’s specific case mix
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