The surgeons of Raney Zusman Medical Group recently received a "3 Star" rating from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS), which represents the highest rating awarded to heart surgery practices participating in the national database.  The award is based on a comprehensive rating system that allows for comparisons regarding the quality of cardiac surgery among hospitals across the country. 

Approximately 12% of all hospitals received the "3 Star" rating, which denotes the highest category of quality.  The award was based on analysis of the most recent national data, from July 2006 through June 2007.  The cardiac surgery performance of our group was found to lie in the highest quality tier, thereby receiving an STS 3 Star rating. 

The comprehensive rating system takes into account many aspects of heart surgery, including:

• Low mortality rates (98.3% Avoidance of Mortality)
• Proper medication usage around the time of surgery
• Low number of complications of surgery (88.7% Avoidance of Morbidity, including reoperations, kidney failure, wound infection, prolonged ventilation, and stroke)

The rating reflects the commitment of our surgeons and the large number of supporting specialists in cardiac care to providing the highest level of excellence in surgical care for our patients.  To find out more, please visit our sections on heart surgery and lung surgery procedures.