CNN has uncovered high surgical mortality rate for children, in what is an attempt to promote transparency at programs that operate on children's hearts.

It has been found that out of the 109 hospitals, 60 fail to reveal basic information of babies’ undergoing heart surgeries.

Although pediatric heart programs look impressive on their websites, people get fooled. CNN’s data from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons revealed that among these 109 hospitals, the death rates range from around 1.4% to 12.1%, which represents a huge difference in the number of children saved.

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons is the largest professional organization for heart surgeons in the United States. It said that said it considers public reporting an ethical responsibility of the specialty. However, fewer than one out of three pediatric heart hospitals agreed to report outcomes on its website when asked by the group.

Dr. Martin Makary, a professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine said, "I feel like patients don't know what every physician knows that there's a tremendous variation in the quality of medical care out there. Some surgeons have impeccable records, and some have patterns of complications that are outrageous”.

Dr. Jeffrey Jacobs, professor of cardiac surgery at Johns Hopkins, has led the charge to convince children's heart surgery programs to be transparent about their death rates.

According to him, patients and their families have the right to know the expected outcomes of operations. He also pointed out that reporting is an actual measure of quality.