# The Impact of Public Reporting on Procedural Outcomes Following Congenital Heart Surgery

> **NIH NIH K23** · CHILDREN'S MERCY HOSP (KANSAS CITY, MO) · 2024 · $167,863

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
 Natalie Jayaram, MD MSB is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas
City and a faculty member in the Department of Pediatrics and Division of Cardiology at Children’s Mercy
Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. As a pediatric cardiologist and health services researcher, her long-term
career goals are to improve the care of pediatric patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) by contributing
to the science of quality assessment, by examining the effectiveness of policy-based initiatives on care, and by
partnering directly with patients to facilitate changes in care. The goal of the current project is to study public
reporting for congenital heart surgery (CHS). Public reporting is designed to provide healthcare consumers
with outcome data for a given provider or institution. Proponents of public reporting advocate for transparent
disclosure of health outcomes data and contend that public reporting results in improved outcomes.1-4 Critics of
public reporting cite evidence that public reporting may not substantially improve outcomes and could result in
unintended consequences, including risk avoidance practices.5-14 Formal study regarding the impact of public
reporting on outcomes for CHS has never been performed. The highly specialized nature of CHD care, with
relatively less local or regional competition compared to more prevalent conditions (e.g. adult cardiovascular
disease) but with patients willing to travel to seek the ‘best’ care,15 suggest that public reporting for CHS
warrants independent investigation. The primary aims of the proposed project are: 1) to evaluate whether, as
an unintended consequence of public reporting, there is a shift in patient case mix, suggesting that centers
could be avoiding surgical intervention in patients at highest risk for poor outcome 2) to evaluate the
association between implementation of public reporting for CHS and surgical outcomes, and 3) to better
understand the type and format of data that CHD patients and families would find most meaningful to help
them make informed decisions regarding care. Study aims 1 and 2 of the project propose obtaining data from
the State Inpatient Database in order to study the association between public reporting, institutional case mix,
and surgical outcomes at centers throughout the US performing CHS. Study Aim 3 proposes focus groups
involving CHD patients and caregivers to gain an improved understanding of their preferences with regards to
public reporting. Together with her mentorship team, Dr. Jayaram has worked to create a career development
plan that will provide her with additional training, education, and experience in the areas of advanced statistical
methodology, experience in working with administrative data, and formal training in qualitative research and
patient engagement. Overall, the skills learned from this project and educational plan coupled with an
outstanding mentorship team will allow Dr. Jaya...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10754238
- **Project number:** 5K23HL153895-03
- **Recipient organization:** CHILDREN'S MERCY HOSP (KANSAS CITY, MO)
- **Principal Investigator:** Natalie Jayaram
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $167,863
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-01-28 → 2025-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10754238

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10754238, The Impact of Public Reporting on Procedural Outcomes Following Congenital Heart Surgery (5K23HL153895-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10754238. Licensed CC0.

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