%0 Journal Article
%T The Congenital Heart Technical Skill Study: Rationale and Design
%A Brett R. Anderson
%A Danielle Gottlieb-Sen
%A David M. Overman
%A Emile A. Bacha
%A Francis X. Moga
%A Jane W. Newburger
%A Jeffrey P. Jacobs
%A Kevin D. Hill
%A Matthew H. Liava¡¯a
%A S. Ram Kumar
%A Sherry A. Glied
%A null
%J World Journal for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery
%@ 2150-136X
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/2150135118822689
%X We report the rationale and design for a peer-evaluation protocol of attending congenital heart surgeon technical skill using direct video observation. All surgeons contributing data to The Society of Thoracic Surgeons¡ªCongenital Heart Surgery Database (STS-CHSD) are invited to submit videos of themselves operating, to rate peers, or both. Surgeons may submit Norwood procedures, complete atrioventricular canal repairs, and/or arterial switch operations. A HIPPA-compliant website allows secure transmission/evaluation. Videos are anonymously rated using a modified Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills score. Ratings are linked to five years of contemporaneous outcome data from the STS-CHSD and surgeon questionnaires. The primary outcome is a composite for major morbidity/mortality. Two hundred seventy-six surgeons from 113 centers are eligible for participation: 83 (30%) surgeons from 53 (45%) centers have agreed to participate, with recruitment ongoing. These surgeons vary considerably in years of experience and outcomes. Participants, both early and late in their careers, describe the process as ¡°very rewarding¡± and ¡°less time consuming than anticipated.¡± An initial subset of 10 videos demonstrated excellent interrater reliability (interclass correlation = 0.85). This study proposes to evaluate the technical skills of attending pediatric cardiothoracic surgeons by video observation and peer-review. It is notable that over a quarter of congenital heart surgeons, across a range of experiences, from almost half of United States centers have already agreed to participate. This study also creates a mechanism for peer feedback; we hypothesize that feedback could yield broad and meaningful quality improvement
%K congenital heart surgery
%K outcomes
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2150135118822689