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When you or your family member has congenital heart disease, it can feel like there are so many decisions to make, especially when faced with surgery or another medical procedure. During these times of stress, it is important to work closely with your medical team.
One key decision you will have to make is where you receive care. More and more information about hospitals is now available for the public to review, however, understanding this information can be challenging. Our goal is to provide you with meaningful information and also help you understand it. We encourage you to use this publicly available data as one piece of the puzzle when making healthcare decisions.
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What this Website Does Not Do
As you review the information on Hospital Navigator, please keep in mind these important details:
The information on Hospital Navigator does not give enough detail to understand what it means for your exact congenital heart defect or procedure. It does not cover every scenario and does not always account for variations in surgical procedures, a patient’s CHD diagnosis, or a patient’s additional diagnoses. Click here for more information about the limitations of these data.
This site was not designed for you to directly compare one hospital to another.
The information on this site is not from today. Most of the information is collected once a year and some numbers may include data that was collected up to four years ago. Pay close attention to dates on Hospital Navigator. Important changes may also happen at a hospital during the time periods indicated that should be taken into consideration.
Understanding the Numbers
Understanding congenital heart surgery information that is available to the public can be very complicated, even for people who work with these numbers all the time. We realize you may find that some of this information is difficult to understand. However, it is important information and we encourage you to discuss it with your medical team. The following resources may be helpful:
Making Sense of Congenital Heart Surgery Data
Get the Most Out of Hospital Navigator
There are a lot of great features to Hospital Navigator you won’t want to miss. For example, if you put your mouse over the orange question marks, additional information becomes visible. The following video will help you become more familiar with all Hospital Navigator has to offer:
Listen to Dr. Dunbar Ivy from Children’s Hospital Colorado Heart Institute as he shares thoughts on Hospital Navigator with David Kasnic, Conquering CHD Executive Director.
What’s Next?
Save this information. Print it out. Take it with you when you talk to your care team. Using it in combination with our Questions To Ask Your Care Team tool may help you feel more prepared and in control when making decisions about your care. Check out our blog post on the Hospital Navigator launch, including a list of participating centers, education and advocacy materials for patient and families, and participation information for centers.
