Healthcare Management Solutions, LLC to Audit STS National Database for Society of Thoracic Surgeons

HMS’ Audit Is Vital for Maintaining Users’ Confidence in the Society’s Data, Which Supports Quality Improvement and Many Other Uses

(Fairmont, West Virginia – February 2, 2021) Healthcare Management Solutions, LLC (HMS) has been selected by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) to conduct the annual external audit of the STS Adult Cardiac Surgery and Intermacs National Databases, starting this month. The audit will examine the accuracy, consistency and completeness of data, to ensure the integrity of the database for users who rely on it for reimbursement, quality improvement, public reporting, research, development of public policy, and other purposes. 

The HMS team will work in collaboration with a team of STS staff and volunteer surgeons as well as data managers at IQVIA and University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) to audit approximately 10% of selected STS National Database participants. 

More than 1,600 sites throughout the United States, Canada, and eight other countries, participate in the STS National Database. The database contains more than seven million records, spanning the main areas of cardiothoracic surgery—Adult Cardiac, General Thoracic, and Congenital Heart Surgery, as well as mechanical circulatory support via the Intermacs Database and its pediatric section, Pedimacs.

“We are honored to serve the Society of Thoracic Surgeons,” said HMS President and Owner Leah Heimbach. “We recognize the critical importance of the STS National Database and the vital role of the Society’s annual external audit in supplementing their multiple internal controls.”

In winning this engagement with STS, the HMS team successfully demonstrated its ability to address the critical success factors laid out by STS for the registry audit, which include:

• Ensuring that external data validation is accurate, consistent, and comprehensive.
• Assessing registry data quality for use in quality improvement research and public reporting as a key component of a larger organization quality program.
• Understanding the client governance structure.
• Writing succinct reports to different audiences to inform them how registry data may be used in quality improvement projects, site reimbursement, public policy, etc. 
• Managing large-scale contracts with subcontractors and complex, simultaneous tasks. 
  

Our team emphasized its numerous data validation execution experiences utilizing business rules and various data validation algorithms, knowledge and familiarity with measure development and quality improvement processes, experience implementing Medicare public reporting initiatives, and our experienced management of complex, fast-paced projects with data submission and auditing components, as well as other strengths, in assuring STS of our team’s ability to deliver a successful audit of their database.

About Healthcare Management Solutions, LLC
HMS protects vulnerable populations and veterans. We blend our unique healthcare and technology expertise to create bold yet cost-effective solutions that federal and state agencies and our private-sector partners need to make sure your loved ones get the best possible care in nursing homes and other healthcare settings, no matter where in America they live.