Very few hospitals that perform operations on children's hearts actually reveal the success and mortality rates of the procedures, according to a new CNN report.
Data obtained by CNN from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons on 109 hospitals revealed that 60 fail to report such information, a "stunning lack of transparency considering some 22,000 babies and children have heart surgery every year," according to the report.
Of the hospitals that are transparent with their pediatric heart surgery results, the mortality rates range significantly from 1.4 percent to 12.2 percent.
"I feel like patients don't know what every physician knows: that there's a tremendous variation in the quality of medical care out there," Martin Makary, MD, a professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, told CNN. "Some surgeons have impeccable records, and some have patterns of complications that are outrageous."
Despite a request from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons that pediatric heart hospitals report outcomes on its website, less than one in three hospitals complied.
To read the full report, click here.
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