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Page 20 of 21 Carr et al. Vessel Plus 2020;4:12 I http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2574-1209.2020.01

DECLARATIONS
Authors’ contributions
Wrote the initial study protocol, under the oversight and leadership of Grover FL: Carr BM, Shroyer ALW
Prepared the research-related materials to obtain an official determination of “not research” by the
Northport VA Medical Center’s Research and Development office: Shroyer ALW
Performed the detailed data after implementing the advanced literature search strategy, acquisition with
active involvement by Grover FL and Shroyer ALW: Carr BM
Ran the initial data analyses and prepared the initial set of tables and figures: Carr BM
Aided in the interpretation as well as the full co-author team worked collaboratively to assure a
comprehensive search strategy: Grover FL, Shroyer ALW
The first draft of this article was written jointly by Carr BM and Shroyer ALW, with revisions provided by
Grover FL, all co-authors provided their final approval.

Availability of data and materials
This study’s data file, including data extracted for each reference listed, is available as an online-only
supplement (Appendix A).

Financial support and sponsorship
None.

Conflicts of interest
All authors declared that there are no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval and consent to participate
The Northport VA Medical Center’s Research and Development Office determined that this study was “not
research”; this “not research” determination was dated September 12, 2019.

Consent for publication
Not applicable.

Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020.

REFERENCES
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Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Statistical Briefs [Internet]. Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality (US); 2006 Feb. Available from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK201926/ [Last accessed on 12 Mar 2020]
2. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Heart Surgery. Available from http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/heart-surgery [Accessed
16 Mar 2020]
3. D’Agostino RS, Jacobs JP, Badhwar V, Fernandez FG, Paone G, et al. The society of thoracic surgeons adult cardiac surgery database:
2018 update on outcomes and quality. Ann Thorac Surg 2018;105:15-23.
4. Grover FL, Hammermeister KE, Burchfiel C. Initial report of the veterans administration preoperative risk assessment study for cardiac
surgery. Ann Thorac Surg 1990;50:12-26.
5. Public Law 99-166. Veterans’ Administration Health-Care Amendments of 1985. Available from http://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/
STATUTE-99/pdf/STATUTE-99-Pg941.pdf#page=10 [Accessed 16 Mar 2020]
6. Grover FL, Johnson RR, Shroyer AL, Marshall G, Hammermeister KE. The veterans affairs continuous improvement in cardiac surgery
study. Ann Thorac Surg 1994;58:1845-51.
7. Jones RH, Hannan EL, Hammermeister KE, Delong ER, O’Connor GT, et al. Identification of preoperative variables needed for risk
adjustment of short-term mortality after coronary artery bypass graft surgery. The Working Group Panel on the Cooperative CABG
Database Project. J Am Coll Cardiol 1996;28:1478-87.
8. Shroyer AL, Dauber I, Jones RH, Daley J, Grover FL, et al. Provider perceptions in using outcomes data to improve clinical practice.