IMAGING & PHYSIOLOGY Summit 2010

The success of public reporting on outcomes after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery has spawned efforts to extend such transparency to other procedures. Yet according to a paper published online January 10, 2012, ahead of print in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, reports on mortality in conjunction with nonemergent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) do not carry the same weight. Hospitals at the extremes tend to continue performing better or worse than average, while the numbers do little to influence patient or physician behavior.