The Culture of Different MKTG_150064494_2018 Service Line Big Book Full_FIN | Page 42

The Culture of Different
From Surviving
to Thriving with
Congenital Heart
Disease
Pediatric cardiologist Jeff Darst, MD, used to specialize in heart
catheterizations. He liked it, but he found that his favorite moments
came not during procedures, but before and after.
Outperforming the National Average
Neonatal mortality by STAT category
Medical Director, Wellness Program, Heart Institute
“There are 50-year-olds born with congenital heart disease out there
having trouble holding down a job,” he notes. “The outcomes are
much more complex than survived or didn’t.”
Dr. Darst started looking for ways to improve those outcomes. One
thing he noticed was a lack of coordination in psychosocial support
for cardiac patients. He thought that needed to change.
A year later, he and pediatric psychologist Sarah Kelly, PsyD, kicked
off Children’s Hospital Colorado’s Heart Institute Wellness Program
as medical and clinical directors, respectively. Recognizing the
stress of living with heart disease, the program employs cardiology,
psychology, social work, child life and spiritual care to help families
heal and connect.
Through the program, every new family has the chance to get in
touch with other families that have dealt with a similar condition. In
the multidisciplinary Fontan Clinic, parents meet and talk while the
Wellness team takes kids on a scavenger hunt around the hospital.
The team hosts several heart-centered family events each year.
“These families need more comprehensive care, both while in
the hospital and after they leave,” says Dr. Darst. “That’s what
this program is for.”
0.0% 1.8% 3.0% 5.8% 13.0%
STAT 1
n=5 STAT 2
n=57 STAT 3
n=33 STAT 4
n=137 STAT 5
n=77
1.7%
3.4%
3.2%
8.8%
17.0%
84.7%
Rate of survival is 3%
higher at Children’s
Colorado
Cardiac anesthesia
lower is better
Percent of adverse events for
all operations
Post-operative length of stay by STAT category
lower is better
1.6%
J E F F D A R S T, M D
On one hand, thanks to interventions like the Fontan Procedure
(see “The Future of Single Ventricle Care,” p. 34), kids born with
severe heart defects now routinely survive to adulthood, where once
they had not. But they aren’t cured. Their conditions touch every area
of their lives — far beyond the range of any cardiologist’s expertise.
Children’s Colorado average
Our mortality rates among neonates were consistently lower than the STS
average from January 2013 through December 2016. The STAT 5 category
represents patients with the highest chance of mortality.
“I found joy in talking
to kids, helping
them understand
their conditions and
overcome barriers.”
87.8%
National average
“I found joy in talking to kids,” he says, “helping them understand
their conditions and overcome barriers.”
The barriers could be substantial.
STAT 5 survival
lower is better
CA R D I O LO GY A N D H E A RT S U RG E RY
PA G E 4 0
4.0 6.0 7.0 11.5 32.0
STAT 1
n=589 STAT 2
n=557 STAT 3
n=157 STAT 4
n=317 STAT 5
n=82
6.6 18.6 14.3 24.6 40.5
2.3%
Children's Colorado
STS
Our post-operative length of stay is below the national average.
Data taken from the STS 2017 Spring Report represents data from January 2013 through December 2016.
The Culture of Different
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