Comparison of Cardiac Surgery Volumes and Mortality Rates Between The Society of Thoracic Surgeons and Medicare Databases From 1993 Through 2001

The close match between NCD and MedPAR in-hospital mortality rates combined with the larger volumes in the NCD suggest that under-reporting in the NCD is not a significant issue. Further investigations into the accuracy of both the NCD and MedPAR are necessary because both are being used for evaluation of provider quality.