Baltimore, MD (July 11, 2012) During the 2012 legislative session the General Assembly passed HB 1141, MHCC- Cardiac Surgery and PCI Services, which establishes a new legal framework for the oversight of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) services and cardiac surgery. The Maryland Health Care Commission (MHCC) has been tasked with implementation of HB 1141, including convening a clinical advisory group of both in-state and out-of-state experts to provide guidance to the Commission on appropriate standards for PCI and cardiac surgery.
This 26 member advisory group will provide input to MHCC on standards for both the establishment of cardiac surgery and PCI programs and ongoing performance standards for existing and new programs. The standards will reflect changes in the scientific consensus regarding PCI at non-surgical hospitals and also take into account current findings regarding quality of care in cardiac surgery and related services. The effort requires experts who can provide scientific and clinical practice perspectives, give input on appropriate peer review practices, and also speak to regulatory experience in other states.
Clinical experts were nominated by Maryland's acute care hospitals, the American College of Cardiology, the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Intervention, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the American Heart Association, MedChi - the Maryland Medical Society, the Maryland Institute for Emergency Services Systems and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The appointees include representatives from in and outside the state and are broadly representative of the hospitals that offer cardiac services, the providers that deliver cardiac services, and consumer groups that advocate on behalf of patients with cardiac conditions. The experience of in-state experts reflects the range of how cardiac services are delivered in hospital systems and independent hospitals in Maryland. Some operate in hospitals offering both PCI and cardiac surgery, others work in hospitals offering PCI without cardiac surgery, and several operate in hospitals may seek to offer PCI in the future. Attached is the list of the membership. Dr Loren F. Hiratzka, Medical Director of Cardiac Surgery at Tri-Health in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Dr. David O. Williams, Director of the Cardiovascular Catheterization Laboratory at Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, have agreed to serve as co-chairs of the group. Attached are short biographies of both chairs and a full list of the advisory group.
Loren F. Hiratzka, MD
Dr. Hiratzka is an active cardiothoracic surgeon in Cincinnati, Ohio and is Medical Director of Cardiac Surgery at Tri-Health, Inc. (Bethesda North Hospital and Good Samaritan Hospital) in Cincinnati. He is Assistant Professor of Clinical Surgery at the University Of Cincinnati College Of Medicine. Dr. Hiratzka serves on the Writing Committee to revise the American College of Cardiology (ACC)/American Heart Association (AHA)/Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Practice Guidelines on Coronary Bypass Graft Surgery; he was recently the STS representative to the American College of Surgeons Committee to develop the Surgical Consumer Assessment of Health Providers and Systems survey for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and has served on the AHA Science Advisory and Coordinating Committee.
David O. Williams, MD
Dr. Williams is Director of the Cardiovascular Catheterization Laboratory at Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, as well as an interventional cardiologist in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. He is also Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School, Division of Brigham and Women's Hospital. In 2002-03, Dr. Williams was the Chairman of the Interventional Subcommittee of the MHCC Advisory Committee on Outcome Assessment in Cardiovascular Care, and so has a long history of providing input and guidance to MHCC cardiovascular quality efforts.
**Please click here for list of Advisory Members**
