Durham, N.C.-based Duke Clinical Research Institute and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons have partnered to link STS clinical data and CMS' claims data to enable researchers and participants to track long-term patient outcomes in the STS National Database.
The STS National Database currently only offers short-term data, up to 30 days after discharge.
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"This new collaboration with DCRI will enable STS to track long-term patient outcomes and better understand how patients fare years down the road, which will ultimately lead to improved patient care," said STS research center director Fred Edwards, MD, in a news release.
The long-term quality measures include additional surgical procedures and long-term survival.
Connecting long-term patient data with clinical data will enable researchers to look at a comprehensive overview of patient care, including hospital costs and other clinical and economic issues, according to the release.
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