Lessons learned from the northern New England Cardiovascular Disease Study Group

The Northern New England Cardiovascular Disease Study Group (NNECDSG) has since 1987 leveraged prospective data collection seated within the setting of a regional collaborative to drive quality improvement in cardiac surgery across 8 medical centers in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. While our efforts have been focused in the setting of adult heart surgery, similar methods have been extended outside of northern New England and in other clinical areas, including vascular surgery, cystic fibrosis, and perinatal care. In this article, we described the history and methodology by which the NNECDSG has attained its success, and end this article with suggestions for how such a collaborative effort might be extended to the field of pediatric and congenital heart surgery.