The Journal of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery
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J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. · Apr 2024
Review Multicenter StudyQuality Improvement Mechanisms to Improve Lymph Node Staging for Lung Cancer: Trends from a Statewide Database.
Our statewide thoracic quality collaborative has implemented multiple quality improvement initiatives to improve lung cancer nodal staging. We subsequently implemented a value-based reimbursement initiative to further incentivize quality improvement. We compare the impact of these programs to steer future quality improvement initiatives. ⋯ Collaborative quality improvement made significant progress before value-based reimbursement, which reinforces the effectiveness of leveraging unblinded data to a collaborative group of thoracic surgeons. Value-based reimbursement may still play a role within a quality collaborative to maintain infrastructure and incentivize participation.
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J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. · Apr 2024
One hundred percent utilization of a modified CryoMaze III procedure for atrial fibrillation with mitral surgery.
Concomitant atrial fibrillation often goes untreated because of surgeon concerns regarding lesion set complexity and pump times. We describe a new cryoablation procedure to address this. ⋯ The modified CryoMaze III technique is efficient, safe, and effective. Education of the surgical community regarding the late benefits of ablation and the simplicity of this new technique should improve adoption of the Class I Guidelines to treat concomitant atrial fibrillation.