Health systems strive to deliver the best possible care to patients. The National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR) supports this mission through its suite of registries. Nestled within this framework is the NCDR CathPCI Registry, developed in collaboration with the American College of Cardiology (ACC). It offers data-driven insights and empowers healthcare facilities to measure current performance and ultimately elevate their practices through NCDR data abstraction efforts. This ensures comprehensive data capture for quality improvement. In this article, we’ll discuss the NCDR CathPCI registry and how it shapes the future of cardiology programs.
The ACC NCDR CathPCI Registry is a database that focuses on diagnostic catheterization and/or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures. It houses cardiac disease insights — characteristics, treatments, and outcomes — to help any facility that performs PCIs to capture the data needed to support their quality improvement efforts.
If your organization falls into this category, the software platform can check your compliance with ACC/AHA clinical practice guidelines. It does this by gathering and compiling demographic data, risk factors, and registry-specific elements that address care delivered pre-procedure, intra-procedure, post-procedure, and even post-discharge.
Supporting the CathPCI Registry requires staff resources to collect, enter, and submit data, including a Data Manager with technical acumen and clinical expertise to facilitate these processes. Effective NCDR data abstraction ensures that facilities meet submission standards while accurately reflecting patient care outcomes. CathPCI, like other registries, involves robust data collection from the patient medical record and utilizes data dictionaries and standardized forms to ensure consistency and uniformity.
Moreover, participants must enter the abstracted data elements directly into the NCDR’s website or a third-party vendor tool. On a quarterly schedule, participants submit CathPCI data to the NCDR database for analysis and aggregation. Subsequently, NCDR provides an in-depth report to participants that outlines your facility’s results on all performance metrics for four rolling quarters. The report also includes risk-adjusted benchmark comparisons to other hospitals. This helps you gauge performance against national trends and identify opportunities for quality improvement.
Related Resource: For a guide of best practices for managing registry data abstraction, visit our guide: “5 Best Practices for Effectively Managing Your NCDR Registry.”
The data collection process can be challenging for facilities, especially if it is partially completed in the cath lab and then finalized in a separate department such as Quality. Furthermore, keeping up with evolving clinical specifications and NCDR registry best practices can be burdensome, particularly for larger cath labs with high volumes.
Knowledge base items need constant tending. These include program requirements, evidence-based guidelines, abstraction specifications, submission standards and deadlines, dashboard updates, reporting and benchmarking analyses, and data validation. Effectively managing these CathPCI resources is essential for streamlining your collection practices. Additionally, leveraging the registry data can provide safer, more cost-effective care. However, this work can be resource-intensive and time-consuming for busy healthcare teams — but don’t fret!
A standout advantage of ADN’s data abstraction outsourcing process is that it provides an early warning system. Many facilities are in the dark until their qualified staff have analyzed the internal reports for metric compliance, or even longer until the NCDR Quarterly Reports are released. However, ADN’s approach allows hospitals to tweak their practices before the submission deadline. This proactive approach is possible because of our monthly abstraction progress and timely feedback loop, which includes identifying improvement opportunities and trends. As a result, this ensures that the hospital’s data remains in harmony with the guidelines set by the NCDR.
When handling abstraction without a smartsourcing partner like ADN, many facilities delay their data reviews until the end of the harvest period. This often happens not because the CathPCI Registry Manager lacks knowledge, but due to competing priorities and limited time and resources. When facilities skip the critical step of performing early and frequent data evaluations, they often face delayed identification of submission problems and chances to enhance care compliance. Consequently, facilities might not receive the Institutional Outcomes Report from NCDR until up to six months after the patient discharges and data abstractions have occurred.
A prominent Miami-based healthcare institution faced a challenge when their dedicated data abstractor left unexpectedly, leaving behind an untrained replacement. The situation became pressing when the Quality Director discovered an accumulating backlog with looming submission deadlines. Overwhelming data volumes compounded by sudden staff changes can easily lead to large backlogs and the looming threat of missed deadlines.
Seeking external support, they approached ADN. When onboarding a new client, an accumulated backlog is not a new experience for us. In fact, ADN has extensive expertise with this scenario. Therefore, our team provided a front-loaded, scaled-up group of abstractors to address the client’s incomplete cases with both speed and accuracy. This was due to our ability to assign as many CathPCI specialists as needed to ensure the facility met its deadline seamlessly. One of ADN’s strengths lies in its large pool of expert abstractors. Whether your facility experiences unexpected staff changes or fluctuations in the volume of data elements like with a version update, ADN can efficiently adapt, scaling its resources to match your immediate needs. Thus, the ability to easily extend your team eliminates the risk and distraction of focus that turnover can inflict.
Engaging in registries, especially one as recognized as the NCDR CathPCI, has a myriad of benefits for hospitals and healthcare professionals. Central to these benefits is the power of informed, data-backed clinical decisions. Here’s a deeper dive into how joining the NCDR CathPCI Registry can elevate your healthcare delivery, as underscored by the American College of Cardiology:
In essence, the NCDR CathPCI Registry is more than just a database; it’s a strategic tool that empowers facilities to offer the pinnacle of cardiac care. By tapping into this reservoir of knowledge, hospitals can continually refine their strategies and provide unparalleled care to their patients.
CathPCI utilizes data dictionaries and standardized forms to ensure consistency and uniformity in the data reporting phase. These tools provide comprehensive definitions and clear guidelines for in-depth data examination.
As per the ACC NCDR, the CathPCI Registry gathers intricate details such as a patient’s medical history, risk elements, and reasons for their cath lab visit. Hospitals that are part of this initiative utilize specialized NCDR CathPCI forms along with their respective data dictionaries to draw out the required details from diverse sections of a patient’s medical documentation.
There are also supplementary resources tailored to address specific circumstances, such as the:
First of all, you’re not alone. Many teams are increasingly asked to do more with less. If your team is already at (or over!) capacity, that’s where a trusted data abstraction outsourcing partner like American Data Network can help. Our team can easily scale up when you want to add a registry. That’s where ADN’s per-chart pricing really saves you precious budget dollars.
The CathPCI Registry is a specialized database that gathers detailed data on diagnostic coronary angiography and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures from its member hospitals across the US. By analyzing this data, it highlights various trends and patterns, such as notable increases in adverse events. This assists facilities in benchmarking their performance against prevailing national standards.
On the other hand, the National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR) operates on a broader scale. It serves as a comprehensive central repository that houses cardiovascular data gathered from institutions nationwide. Unlike the specific focus of the CathPCI Registry, the NCDR encompasses a wide range of clinical areas including but not limited to acute myocardial infarction treatment, diagnostic cardiac catheterization, and PCI, as well as pediatric and adult congenital treatment procedures.
In essence, while the CathPCI concentrates specifically on coronary angiography and PCI procedures, the NCDR provides a more holistic view of cardiovascular care across various dimensions.
With over 270 data elements, it often takes up to one hour per chart. This is true even for an experienced abstractor familiar with your EHR documentation practices and possessing technical acumen and clinical expertise. Therefore, you can expect the time per chart to be even longer for novice abstractors or when the patient’s case is particularly complex.
Given the cardiac anatomy and clinical complexity required for accurate CathPCI abstractions, nurses or staff with 2 years of cath lab experience are often preferred. Other common non-nursing positions include Cath Lab/Rad Techs or Abstractors with other NCDR or cardiac registry experience.
Both the quality and quantity of data generated from participating in the NCDR registry can vary substantially between facilities, impacting how effectively that data is utilized to drive improvements. Adhering to NCDR registry best practices is crucial for maximizing the value of your data and ensuring it contributes meaningfully to your quality improvement efforts. Implementing these best practices can help your facility manage its NCDR program more effectively, leading to better outcomes and more consistent performance across the board.
If your facility is looking to enhance its NCDR data abstraction process while freeing up valuable resources, consider the benefits of data abstraction outsourcing. Our team of experts is ready to help you streamline your operations and improve data accuracy. To learn more about how we can support your efforts, don’t hesitate to contact us and explore a partnership tailored to your needs.
The Significance of Efficient Clinical Data Management in Healthcare