Percentage of Patients Who Needed to Return to the Operating Room Following CABG Surgery, Risk-Adjusted Rate, 2008

19 hospitals in Washington perform cardiac surgery. One significant complication that can occur following cardiac surgery is the need to return to the operating room. This can potentially be the result of bleeding, an infection in the incision, or for many other reasons. All 19 of these hospitals participate in COAP, a statewide quality improvement program, and are working hard to keep the incidence of this complication extremely low.
 
Results for this measure refer to the percentage of patients in Washington State that needed to return to the operating room following their coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. The statewide average has gone from 3.9% in 2004, to 4.1% in 2008. There has been some variance in this outcome over the past four years (going down and then coming back up slightly).Individual hospital results for 2008 range from a low of 1.7% of patients who need to return to the operating room, to a high of 7.6%.

Ask your surgeon about their rate of return to the OR following coronary artery bypass surgery at your hospital. Encourage your surgeon to ask about their COAP report regarding return to OR rates so they know you care!

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