Cardiac Cath Lab Management Using Key Metrics and Benchmarking

Hospitals are under increasing pressure to combine medical quality with economic efficiency. In cardiology departments, the cardiac catheterization laboratory (CCL) plays a particularly crucial role, as it is both resource-intensive and vital to treatment success. To improve transparency and manageability of workflows within the CCL, a standardized system for process and performance indicator analysis has been developed.

A central tool in this effort is a glossary published in 2023, which defines specific time points, key performance indicators, and urgency categories within the course of a CCL procedure. This glossary serves as the foundation for systematic evaluation, enabling hospitals to analyze internal processes and compare them with those of other institutions (benchmarking).

The key objectives are:

• To create transparency around procedural workflows,

• To enable objective assessment and optimization of resource utilization.

Essential prerequisites for implementation include high-quality data, a robust technical infrastructure, agreed-upon goals, and a clear sense of responsibility at the level of medical leadership. Regular reporting is also critical, as it enables data-driven management that takes both medical and economic considerations into account.

Integrating these insights can help reduce waiting times, prevent overburdening, and ensure high-quality patient care. In the context of ongoing healthcare reforms—such as the shift toward more outpatient care—strategic CCL management is becoming increasingly important.

More information can be found at:

📚 Source:

Bialas, E., Karaca, O., & Hamm, C. (2025). Data-Driven Management of Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories Using Key Metrics and Benchmarking. Die Kardiologie. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12181-025-00740-0

© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Medizin Verlag GmbH, part of Springer Nature, 2025.