National ICD Registry™ Provides Physicians and Hospitals with Quality Improvement Data
First Year’s Data Includes More Than 100,000 Patient Cases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ann-Marie White
Heart Rhythm Society
202-464-3476
awhite@hrsonline.org

DENVER — The National Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) Registry™, the nation’s first comprehensive database of detailed information about patients receiving these lifesaving medical devices, has released its first set of data reports to more than 1,450 hospitals participating in the program. The ICD Registry™ collected in-hospital data ranging from assuring the right patient received the right device to device performance issues for more than 100,000 patients in its first year.

“These detailed data reports will give physicians new insight on their performance relative to their peers and will help advance the quality of care given to patients,” said Stephen Hammill, MD, FHRS, chair of the ICD Registry™ Steering Committee and past president of the Heart Rhythm Society.

“Having access to this type of data is invaluable,” said Laurent Lewkowiez, MD, director of clinical cardiac electrophysiology at the University of Colorado Hospital and Heart Rhythm Society member. “By analyzing patient characteristics and device trends over time, we can determine if changes need to be made to our medical protocols to ensure the best patient care possible.”

All hospitals that implant these medical devices for primary prevention of sudden cardiac arrest in Medicare beneficiaries are required to routinely submit data to this registry as a condition of government payment. Every hospital can voluntarily submit additional data on all of their patients receiving ICDs to receive benchmark scores. “We are extremely pleased that in response to the Heart Rhythm Society’s promotion to include all ICD procedures in this registry, an overwhelming majority of hospitals have voluntarily submitted data on all patients receiving ICD implants,” added Hammill. “I am confident that physicians will thoroughly review their data reports and benchmark scores to learn from their colleagues around the country and make positive changes to attain best practices.”

The data set will also provide critical information to both government and private entities. For example, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will be able to utilize this data to confirm that lifesaving medical technologies are benefiting Medicare patients in the real world. Health insurance companies will have the opportunity to use the aggregated data to better understand how this technology is used by a variety of physicians and hospitals. Medical device manufacturers will have the opportunity to enhance post-market surveillance efforts for new and existing technologies. Physician associations, such as the Heart Rhythm Society, will publish the research findings in peer-reviewed journals and continuously evaluate the data to determine the effectiveness of existing clinical guidelines.

“The findings from the ICD Registry™ will have a direct impact on the use of this medical technology in current and future patients,” noted Hammill.

About the ICD Registry
The creation of the National ICD Registry™ began in September 2004 with the convening of the National ICD Registry Working Group, an interdisciplinary committee led by the Heart Rhythm Society and consisting of 17 organizations including: physician associations; health insurance providers; government officials; medical device manufacturers and registry experts. This workgroup addressed the lack of information available for determining if ICDs benefited Medicare patients, a patient population that is both older and in some cases less healthy than patients receiving ICDs in the clinical trials. The working group also determined the best approach to develop and implement the registry to collect this information without overburdening hospital participants. As a result, the ICD Registry™, a partnership of the Heart Rhythm Society and the American College of Cardiology Foundation, was created. In October 2005, CMS announced the ICD Registry™ as the official national repository of ICD information.

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About the Heart Rhythm Society
The Heart Rhythm Society is the international leader in science, education and advocacy for cardiac arrhythmia professionals and patients, and the primary information resource on heart rhythm disorders. Its mission is to improve the care of patients by promoting research, education and optimal health care policies and standards. Incorporated in 1979 and based in Washington, DC, it has a membership of over 4,000 heart rhythm professionals in more than 60 countries around the world.