Why don't all REs have success rates like CCRM?

nrjf01

I was looking at SART today and they have amazing success rates!  Obviously they are doing something right.  At my RE the success rate for IVF in my age group is 48.6% at CCRM 59.8%.   A bit of a gamble when you are OOP. I wish I lived closer to Colorado.  From Pennsylvania it is a bit of a hike.  Honestly, I would so use my summer vacation time and make an extended trip out there if it ment I would get pregnant.  Considering DH is not in agreement with me on IVF, I do not see this happening. 

But honestly if CCRM success rates are so good, why aren't other REs following thier work?  Does CCRM have some magic potion or something?

Nerwak

I don't know.. it's pretty amazing. My clinic says they share of clinical protocols, techniques, and procedures with CCRM (Houston IVF) so I hope we're getting the same magic potion!

berryblndgirl

I don't put much stock in those numbers because there's no way of knowing what's really behind them. A doctor could boost his or her numbers by only accepting "easy" patients, and perhaps patents who don't even need IVF, or by refusing to treat more difficult cases. I'm not saying CCRM does this, just that it could happen. My doctor's percentages are actually better than CCRM's for my age bracket, but I don't necessarily think that makes my doc better than CCRM.

taraandkyle06

i just compared my clinic's SART data to CCRM's and noticed that for my age range, the % of successful live births is 38.2% compared with CCRM's 53.8% (and actually, it should be the live birth numbers that you look at rather than the pregnancy achievement numbers b/c live birth is a better indicator of clinic performance). however, my clinic does more than twice the amount of fresh non-donor IVF cycles for my age range than CCRM does so i'm assuming that would account for the difference in %ages - statistically, the more cycles that are run leaves a greater chance that more cycles are going to fail relative to a clinic with so fewer cycles.

nrjf01

I wonder what my RE will say if I mention CCRM success rates to him?  They especially do well for the ladies 35 and older...

My Re 35-37yr  34.9%  vs. CCRM 35-37yr  57.6%

My Re 38-40yr  25%     vs. CCRM 38- 40yr  50.7%

My goodness CCRM has better success rates for  38-40 year old group then my RE has for the 35 and under group.  WTF?  The more I think about if I ever get DH to agree on IVF my next step will be to mention a long trip to Colorado.  I am definately mentioning this to my RE. 

Tryingtogetpregnant

I am a CCRM patient. I can tell you they don't just accept "easy" patients. This is my 3rd cycle, so I certainly wouldn't call myself easy!!!! Also, some of the toughest cases on this board and around the country go to CCRM. They don't turn patients away at all.

They have the success rates for a few reasons. First off, they do CGH testing - this is the most sophisticated testing of all 23 chromosomes on each embryo. They can tell you if they are viable before they ever transfer them to your body.

Also, they do extensive testing before you even start your cycle. I have been TTCing for 2 years and never had so much testing done. I will tell you though that we just went from unexplained to explained in one test result that no RE locally would do for me. It is a 2 month treatment process and we should be "treated."

The third reason is the extensive learning/researching and front of the pack attitude that their RE's take. If you ever have the opportunity to speak to any of their RE's, then you will see what I mean. They are absolute geniuses; however, they make you feel so comfortable in the way they speak to you. They all go to other countries and around the US speaking and attending conferences to learn even more.

If anyone has any questions on CCRM, feel free to page me. I am a huge believer! And, trust me, CCRM is a huge hike for us as well - we do not live in Colorado. I only wish we made the hike earlier! About 70% of their patients travel from other states and other countries. Yes, I said from other countries.

CCRM is the real deal - they are not SART fiction.

 

fallbride110406

My RE is pretty close, but I'm sure CCRM does more cases (I didn't look up their statistics).  Here's my RE from 1/1/07 - 3/31/08:

In Vitro Fertilization
Includes all fresh embryo and blastocyst transfers.

IVF	Age < 35	35-37	38-40	41-42
Clinical Pregnancy Rate	56.6%	40.7%	48.4%	25.0%
	47/83	22/54	15/31	3/12

 They're a new clinic, so that may be why their rates are so high, I don't know.

Mrs.LisaP

Thats a good question. I know CCRM is the best clinic in the country, so their success rates dont surpirse me. I wish I lived closer I would love to use them!

schmoodle

Some institutions will always excel above others, see, e.g. Harvard/Yale/Princeton, Mayo Clinic, etc. No specific reason you can pinpoint, other than the people that make it up, and I'm sure the same can likely be said for CCRM. I don't buy the "they only take easy cases" argument because I've heard from many tough cases they accepted, although I think they are more straightforward than some other clinics and tell patients up front if they don't think they have good odds.

So far we've fallen on the better side of the statistics with our clinic (and they have the best statistics locally which I'm happy with) but if we had multiple failures I'd definitely consider CCRM.

Quizzle

My RE is pretty close, too. My age group is 54% resulting in pregnancies and 51% live births.It's not necessarily the highest success rate in town, but it's pretty close. The clinic that was highest in 2007 was lower than mine in 2006, so it's pretty much a wash for me.