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Highest Safety Rating for Adult Cardiac Surgery Awarded to Mount Sinai Surgeon

Newswise — New York, NY (May 11, 2018) - David H. Adams, MD, Cardiac Surgeon-in-Chief and Chair of Cardiovascular Surgery at Mount Sinai Health System, has received the highest "two-star" safety rating from the New York State Department of Health. The Department also named Dr. Adams as the highest-volume valve surgeon in New York State, and The Mount Sinai Hospital as having the state’s highest-volume valve surgery program. This marks the third consecutive year that Dr. Adams has been awarded the prestigious designation for safety rates significantly exceeding the statewide average.

"Safety is an important indicator for clinical excellence, and we made this a key priority at our Mitral Valve Repair Center at The Mount Sinai Hospital,” said Dr. Adams. “We continually strive for these results because our patients deserve world-class cardiac surgery care.”

The new data released by the Department of Health reports on the outcomes of patient discharges at 40 New York State hospitals from December 1, 2012, to November 30, 2015. During this three-year period, Dr. Adams achieved a significantly higher safety level (.52) than the statewide average (2.25) while performing 1,033 total valve surgery cases.  Dr. Adams is one of four surgeons to receive the two-star rating in the state.

The “Adult Cardiac Surgery in New York State 2013-2015” report tracked data for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, valve repair or replacement surgery, transcatheter aortic valve replacement, and readmissions after CABG.

"Dr. Adams and our cardiac surgery team continue to drive patient safety to ever greater levels of quality every year,” says Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, Director of Mount Sinai Heart and Physician-in-Chief of The Mount Sinai Hospital. "This latest recognition of Dr. Adams is just one of the many reasons we are proud to have him as a true leader of Mount Sinai Heart.” 

Dr. Adams will become President of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS), the world's oldest and most prestigious society dedicated to thoracic disease, this month. He has set national benchmarks, with degenerative mitral valve repair rates exceeding 99 percent. Repair of the native valve is the preferred treatment for patients with mitral valve disease, instead of replacement with a prosthetic valve. This requires special expertise, but the advantages for the patient are significant and include improved life expectancy, avoidance of long-term anticoagulation (use of blood thinners), and better preservation of native heart function. For more information about our Mitral Valve Repair Center at Mount Sinai Heart call 212-659-6820 or visit https://www.mitralvalverepair.org.

About the Mount Sinai Health System
The Mount Sinai Health System is New York City’s largest integrated delivery system encompassing seven hospital campuses, a leading medical school, and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York region. Mount Sinai’s vision is to produce the safest care, the highest quality, the highest satisfaction, the best access and the best value of any health system in the nation. The System includes approximately 7,100 primary and specialty care physicians; 10 joint-venture ambulatory surgery centers; more than 140 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and 31 affiliated community health centers. Physicians are affiliated with the renowned Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which is ranked among the highest in the nation in National Institutes of Health funding per investigator. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 18 on U.S. News & World Report’s “Honor Roll” of top U.S. hospitals; it is one of the nation’s top 20 hospitals in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Geriatrics, Nephrology, and Neurology/Neurosurgery, and in the top 50 in four other specialties in the 2017-2018 “Best Hospitals” issue. Mount Sinai’s Kravis Children’s Hospital also is ranked in six out of ten pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report. The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked 12th nationally for Ophthalmology and 50th for Ear, Nose, and Throat, while Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Mount Sinai St. Luke’s and Mount Sinai West are ranked regionally. For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org/, or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.