EditorialThe Rationale for Incorporation of HIPAA Compliant Unique Patient, Surgeon, and Hospital Identifier Fields in The STS Database
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Legal Issues
The STS databases are compliant with the HIPAA of 1996 [1, 2]. The Participation Agreement with The STS, and the Appendix I of the Business Associate Contract & Data Use Agreement, acknowledge that Participants in the database, The STS, and Duke Clinical Research Institute, agree to comply with all statutes and regulations under federal and state laws concerning patient privacy and data security, including but not limited to the privacy regulations promulgated under HIPAA [1]. The “Privacy
Database Links and Longitudinal Follow-Up
Several initiatives are underway to enhance the abilities of The STS Database to function as a tool for longitudinal follow-up. These initiatives involve both obtaining follow-up data from other databases and linking The STS databases to other databases. All data linking agreements will be strictly adherent to HIPAA privacy regulations. We firmly believe that this new capacity for long-term follow-up will be an invaluable resource for our profession.
The Future
The rationale for the incorporation of HIPAA Compliant Unique Patient, Surgeon, and Hospital Identifier Fields into the STS Database is to enhance the ability of the STS Database to function as a tool for longitudinal follow-up. The ability to obtain data from national death registries, administrative claims databases, and other clinical databases, is vital to this objective. Each of these data sources will provide different and complementary data as exemplified by the database links briefly
References (7)
Cited by (42)
Longitudinal Follow-up After Pediatric and Congenital Cardiac Surgery: Highly Valuable But Very Challenging
2024, Annals of Thoracic SurgeryCurrent Penetration, Completeness, and Representativeness of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Adult Cardiac Surgery Database
2022, Annals of Thoracic SurgeryThe Value of Longitudinal Follow-Up and Linked Registries
2021, Journal of the American College of CardiologyPenetration, completeness, and representativeness of the society of thoracic surgeons adult cardiac surgery database
2016, Annals of Thoracic SurgeryCitation Excerpt :Linking the STS National Database to administrative claims databases through nonunique indirect identifiers represents one of several potential strategies that will allow longitudinal follow-up with the STS National Database: (1) Using nonunique indirect identifiers, the STS National Database can be linked to administrative claims databases and become a valuable source of information about long-term mortality, rates of rehospitalization, long-term morbidity, and cost. ( 2) Using unique, direct, personal identifiers, such as name and social security number, the STS database can be linked to national death registries like the Social Security Death Master File and the National Death Index, to verify life status over time [1, 10, 11, 12]. ( 3) Using either direct or indirect identifiers, the STS National Database can link to other clinical registries, such as the National Cardiovascular Data Registry of the American College of Cardiology, to provide enhanced clinical follow-up. (
The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Adult Cardiac Surgery Database: The Driving Force for Improvement in Cardiac Surgery
2015, Seminars in Thoracic and Cardiovascular SurgeryCitation Excerpt :Since then the Research Center has evaluated numerous grant proposals and has achieved federal funding for 14 grants. The STS has successfully linked their databases with other data resources, which further expands its research capabilities to address important health policy questions.33,34 Additionally, efforts are ongoing to transform the STS ACSD into a platform for longitudinal follow-up.