SMC was top-rated for coronary artery bypass graft adequacy.

The Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service (HIRA) conducted coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) adequacy evaluation

for patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD) which is the 3rd largest cause of death in Korea

and published the results on March 29th on its official website.

The evaluation was performed on inpatient cases between July 2013 and June 2014.

Eligibility was based on three or more cases for each indicator. In total, 66 medical institutions were assessed.

IHD is caused by narrowing of coronary arteries that deliver oxygen and blood to heart muscles. Its symptoms include chest pain and shortness of breath.

CABG is a surgical procedure where a healthy vessel of patients is harvested and sewn on to the coronary arteries to create a bypass.

This procedure requires highly sophisticated skills. Surgeons’ experience and thoroughness of treatment are the key factors of good outcomes.

The HIRA’s adequacy evaluation looks into how adequate the procedure is in medical and pharmaceutical terms and how good its outcome is.

Largely, it is based on six indicators: the number of cases, the rate of CABG using internal thoracic arteries,

the aspirin pre[removed]ion rate upon discharge, the rate of reoperation due to complications,

the death rate within 30 days after the surgery, and the length of hospital stay.

Eligible hospitals are rated from Rating 1 to Rating 5.

With 441 cases, SMC ranked first for the number of procedures,

followed by the Asan Medical Center (243), the Severance Hospital (201), the Seoul National University Hospital (146),

and the Catholic University of Korea Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital (72).

This means SMC performed the procedure twice more than the Asan Medical Center and six times more than the Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital.

2016.04.11