ACC/AHA/SCAI Health Policy Statement Defines Structured Reporting Initiative for Cardiac Catheterization Labs

March 28, 2014—The American College of Cardiology (ACC), American Heart Association (AHA), and Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) announced the development of a Health Policy Statement that defines the clinical standards for structured reporting in the cardiac catheterization suite. The statement, created by 14 professional societies from across the world, is intended to improve patient care by making clinical data more timely, accessible, consistent, and useable.

“ACC/AHA/SCAI 2014 Health Policy Statement on Structured Reporting for the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory” was published online in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and the AHA’s Circulation.

According to the ACC/AHA/SCAI announcement, the goal of structured reporting is to produce clear, concise, thorough, and organized reports on catheterization procedures that include all information relevant to both clinical care and operational administration. For example, it should include a minimum dataset that anticipates clinical, operational, regulatory, and financial uses and that documents indications and appropriateness.

The societies advised that this approach should produce data-intensive reports that concisely and efficiently convey the details of a variety of catheterization procedures, such as those involving the heart and carotid arteries, peripheral blood vessels, pediatric and adult congenital and structural heart conditions, and valve replacements. It is hoped that the clarity, consistency, and quality of these procedure reports will be an improvement over current approaches, which are inconsistent and vary widely among catheterization labs and vendors.

As noted in the ACC/AHA/SCAI announcement, the new statement offers specific report templates to illustrate the principles of structured reporting. These templates help users manage the patient’s data before, during, and after the procedure and integrate data management into the workflows of all care team members. They provide a step-by-step process from scheduling to analysis, as well as outline how to compile a report once the procedure is complete. They also identify when, where, and how the processes of data are integrated into the workflow.

The societies advised that widespread adoption of this structured reporting approach will require a substantial transformation of catheterization laboratory reporting that will affect administration, physicians, and staff. However, this transformation is aligned with federal initiatives promoting the universal adoption of electronic health records.

In providing report templates, the joint effort is intended to help accelerate the development and application of this new approach to reporting catheterization procedures. It is also important for health information technology vendors to build and implement systems that enable structured reporting.

Project Chair Timothy A. Sanborn, MD, commented in the ACC/AHA/SCAI press release, “Getting everyone on the same page is crucial to improving care for the patient. Structured reporting increases the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire catheterization team, improves communication and coordination of care, and reduces delays in care. In addition, it facilitates the use of data for clinical care, quality assessment, performance improvement, billing, regulatory, and other purposes.” Dr. Sanborn is Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois.

Project Vice Chair James E. Tcheng, MD, added, “These data-intensive reports will efficiently convey the details of the procedure, findings, analyses, and recommendations of care for the patient. They will reduce the documentation burden and allow physicians to focus more on care recommendations for the patient.” Dr. Tcheng is an interventional cardiologist and Director of Duke Information Systems for Cardiovascular Care at Duke University Health System in Durham, North Carolina.