1. Hospital Case Volume and Appropriate Prescriptions at Hospital Discharge After Acute Myocardial Infarction
- Author
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Philippe Loirat, Jean-Francois Thebaut, Geneviève Derumeaux, Catherine Grenier, Francois Schiele, Armelle Desplanques-Leperre, Frédéric Capuano, and Christine Gardel
- Subjects
Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Hospitals, Low-Volume ,Ticlopidine ,Quality Assurance, Health Care ,Adrenergic beta-Antagonists ,Myocardial Infarction ,Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors ,Humans ,Medicine ,Myocardial infarction ,Quality of care ,Medical prescription ,Intensive care medicine ,Quality Indicators, Health Care ,Retrospective Studies ,Aspirin ,Ejection fraction ,business.industry ,Medical record ,Odds ratio ,medicine.disease ,Clopidogrel ,Patient Discharge ,Prescriptions ,Emergency medicine ,Drug Therapy, Combination ,Female ,France ,Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors ,Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine ,business ,Hospitals, High-Volume ,medicine.drug - Abstract
Background— In acute myocardial infarction, the relationship between volume and quality indicators (QIs) is poorly documented. Through a nationwide assessment of QIs at discharge repeated for 3 years, we aimed to quantify the relationship between volume and QIs in survivors after acute myocardial infarction. Methods and Results— Almost all healthcare centers in France participated. Medical records were randomly selected. Data collection was performed by an independent group. QIs for acute myocardial infarction were defined by an expert consensus group as appropriate prescription at discharge of aspirin, clopidogrel, β-blocker, statin, and an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor in patients with left ventricular ejection fraction 300, a significantly lower rate of all QIs was observed in centers with the lowest volume. Odds ratios progressively decreased with increasing volume. Despite a significant increase in the composite QI over the 3 years, a significant relationship persisted between volume and quality of care. Conclusions— Analysis of QIs at discharge demonstrates the existence of a relationship between volume and appropriate prescriptions at discharge. Centers with the highest volume perform better on quality measures than centers with lower volumes. Temporal analysis over 3 consecutive years confirms this relationship and shows that it persists despite improvement in QIs between 2008 and 2010.
- Published
- 2013
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