Cardiothoracic surgery quality improvement is a core value of healthcare provision. In order to improve quality of care, information on key indicators needs to be systematically collected and maintained.In 2006, thecardiothoracic department at AgaKhan University developed an infrastructure that would enable us to answer the more challenging research queries in cardiac surgery practice. The resulting electronic cardiothoracic database is based on the European Association of Cardiothoracic Surgeons database and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons database.While, it is currently used only at Aga Khan University, it has the potential to become a multicenter database.
Objective
To assess the impact of database development and maintenance on clinical practice and quality of care.