Our team of surgeons, along with nurses and support staff, are the most experienced team in the area and administer an extraordinary level of expertise and personalized care.
Compare Akron General with National Standards:
Carotid Endarterectomy (CEA)
Hospital Surgical Volume
Individual Surgeon Volume
Physician Board Certification
Length of Stay
Vascular Laboratory Accreditation
Carotid Angioplasty and Stenting
Inpatient Mortality Rate
1. Hospital Surgical Volume
The number of surgeries a hospital or surgeon performs is easily measured and has been used to denote clinical expertise. Procedure volume (number of cases per surgeon) has therefore become a widely-used quality indicator for surgery.
According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), a higher volume of carotid endarterectomy cases is associated with lower mortality and complication rates. Lower-volume facilities with well-trained surgeons may also achieve excellent clinical outcomes; however, the odds favor patients who are treated in hospitals with a higher number of procedures.
Some hospitals care for patients with a greater severity of illness and their outcomes may reflect the increased surgical risk of those patients, e.g., sicker patients may increase the likelihood of poor outcomes.
Akron General Medical Center's surgeons performed 117 carotid endarterectomy (CEA) procedures in 2006.
2. Individual Surgeon Volume
It has been suggested that the volume of procedures performed by the individual surgeon, rather than the hospital as a whole, has more bearing on the outcomes of carotid endarterectomy (CEA) procedures. (Journal of the American College of Surgeons, December 2002: 195(6); 814-821)
While there has been no guideline set for the number of carotid endarterectomies (CEA) a surgeon should perform to maintain quality, studies suggest that 10-50 procedures/year should be performed to maintain competence. (American Journal of Surgery, May 2001: 181(5); 450-453)
100 percent of Akron General Medical Center’s surgeons who perform CEA procedures performed 10 to 50 carotid endarterectomy procedures in 2006.
3. Physician Board Certification
Carotid endarterectomy (CEA) may be performed by a variety of different types of surgeons, such as vascular surgeons, neurological surgeons, or general surgeons.
A board-certified physician has completed an approved educational training program and an evaluation process including an examination designed to assess the knowledge, skills and experience necessary to provide quality patient care in that specialty. A specialty certificate is issued by a medical specialty certifying board, which is valid nationwide. Although certification is not required for an individual physician to practice medicine, most hospitals and managed care organizations require that at least a certain percentage of their staff be "board certified." (American Board of Medical Specialties)
Vascular surgery: Board certification in vascular surgery is offered by the Vascular Surgery Board of the American Board of Surgery. (American Board of Surgery)
Neurosurgery: The American Board of Neurological Surgery (ABNS) is responsible, through the conference of board certification, that an individual’s quality of training and practice of neurological surgery meets acceptable standards. The broad aim of the ABNS is to encourage the study, improve the practice, elevate the standards, and advance the science of neurological surgery, thereby serving the cause of public health. Certification by the ABNS is based upon approval of an applicant's educational and training qualifications, as supported by statements from his or her program director, a review of professional practice as reflected in statements of his or her colleagues, review and approval of at least twelve months of practice data, and passage of written and oral examinations. (American Board of Neurological Surgery)
General surgery: A General Surgeon certified by the American Board of Surgery is one who has acquired during training knowledge and experience related to the diagnosis, preoperative, operative, and postoperative management, including the management of complications, in essential content areas such as the alimentary tract; the abdomen and its contents; breast, skin, and soft tissue; the endocrine system; head and neck surgery; pediatric surgery; surgical critical care; surgical oncology; transplantation surgery; trauma and burns; and vascular surgery. (American Board of Surgery)
All of Akron General Medical Center’s surgeons who perform CEA are board certified in their specialty.
4. Average Length of Stay
The average length of stay (measured in days) provides general information about the efficiency of care delivery, and is therefore an important quality indicator. However, patients with a greater severity of illness may have a longer average length of stay.
According to the most recent national data from the National Inpatient Sample of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the average length of stay for carotid endarterectomy (CEA) was 2.9 days.
In 2006, Akron General Medical Center’s average length of stay (ALOS) for carotid endarterectomy (CEA) was 1.62 days, which is better than the ALOS reported by the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, AHRQ.
5. Vascular Laboratory Accreditation
Today's health care organizations are held to very high levels of accountability - by peers, by the general public, and by Medicare and other payers. The Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Vascular Laboratories (ICAVL) accreditation is a means by which noninvasive vascular laboratories can evaluate and demonstrate the level of patient care they provide.
The physicians, technologists, and sonographers on the ICAVL Board Of Directors composed The Standards (formerly the Essentials and Standards), an extensive document defining the minimal requirements for vascular laboratories to provide high quality care. The Standards are used by laboratories as both a guideline and the foundation to create and achieve realistic quality care goals.
Akron General Medical Center's Vascular Laboratory is accredited by the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Vascular Laboratories (ICAVL).
6. Carotid Angioplasty and Stenting
While some restrictions remain on the use of carotid angioplasty and stenting (also called CAS, inserting a catheter, or tube, into the carotid artery to open a blocked area in the artery; a stent is a small metal coil used to keep the artery open), the procedure is performed on a broad basis in academic and community hospital settings. (Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology, September 2003: 14(9, Part 1); 1095-1097)
CAS is minimally invasive and studies have shown it to be as effective as CEA for the treatment of carotid stenosis (occlusion of the carotid artery, an artery in the neck which carries blood to the brain), particularly in patients who are at high risk for surgical treatment. (Stroke, April 2002: 33(4); 1063-1070)
Akron General Medical Center offers carotid angioplasty and stenting for the treatment of carotid stenosis.
7. Inpatient Mortality Rate
The mortality rate (measured as a percentage) provides general information about the quality of care delivery, and can be an important quality indicator. However, some hospitals care for patients with a greater severity of illness and therefore may have a higher mortality rate.
According to the most recent data available from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project’s (HCUP) Nationwide Inpatient Sample from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the inpatient mortality rate for carotid endarterectomy (CEA) was 0.46 percent.
The inpatient mortality rate for carotid endarterectomy (CEA) at Akron General Medical Center was zero percent in 2006, which is better than the rate for CEA in HCUP’s Nationwide Inpatient Sample.
