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Background: Studies of chronic diseases are associated with a financial burden on households. We aimed to determine if survivors of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) experience household economic burden and to quantify any potential burden by examining level of economic hardship and factors associated with hardship., Methods: Australian patients admitted to hospital with ACS during 2-week period in May 2012, enrolled in SNAPSHOT ACS audit and who were alive at 18 months after index admission were followed-up via telephone/paper survey. Regression models were used to explore factors related to out-of-pocket expenses and economic hardship., Results: Of 1833 eligible patients at baseline, 180 died within 18 months, and 702 patients completed the survey. Mean out-of-pocket expenditure (n = 614) in Australian dollars was A$258.06 (median: A$126.50) per month. The average spending for medical services was A$120.18 (SD: A$310.35) and medications was A$66.25 (SD: A$80.78). In total, 350 (51 %) of patients reported experiencing economic hardship, 78 (12 %) were unable to pay for medical services and 81 (12 %) could not pay for medication. Younger age (18-59 vs ≥80 years (OR): 1.89), no private health insurance (OR: 2.04), pensioner concession card (OR: 1.80), residing in more disadvantaged area (group 1 vs 5 (OR): 1.77), history of CVD (OR: 1.47) and higher out-of-pocket expenses (group 4 vs 1 (OR): 4.57) were more likely to experience hardship., Conclusion: Subgroups of ACS patients are experiencing considerable economic burden in Australia. These findings provide important considerations for future policy development in terms of the cost of recommended management for patients.

Background: High-sensitivity troponin T (hs-TnT) assays promise greater discrimination of evolving myocardial infarction, but the impact of unguided implementation on the effectiveness of care is uncertain., Methods and Results: We evaluated the impact of hs-TnT reporting on care and outcome among chest pain patients presenting to 5 emergency departments within a multicenter randomized trial. Patients were allocated to hs-TnT reporting (hs-report) or standard reporting (std-report; Roche Elecys). The primary end point was death and new or recurrent acute coronary syndrome by 12 months. A total of 1937 patients without ST-segment elevation were enrolled between July 2011 and March 2013. The median age was 61 (interquartile range, 48-74) years, and 46.3% were women. During the index hospitalization, 1466 patients (75.7%) had maximal troponin <30 ng/L within 24 hours. Randomization to hs-report format did not alter the admission rate (hs-report: 57.7% versus std-report: 58.0%; P=0.069). There was no difference in angiography (hs-report: 11.9% versus std-report: 10.9%; P=0.479). The hs-reporting did not reduce 12-month death or new/recurrent acute coronary syndrome in the overall population (hs-report: 9.7% versus std-report: 7.2% [hazard ratio, 0.83 (0.57-1.22); P=0.362]). However, among those with troponin levels <30 ng/L, a modest reduction in the primary end point was observed (hs-report: 2.6% versus std-report: 4.4%, [hazard ratio, 0.58; 95% confidence interval, 0.34-0.1.00; P=0.050)., Conclusions: High-sensitivity troponin reporting alone is associated with only modest changes in practice. Clinical effectiveness in the adoption of high-sensitivity troponin may require close coupling with protocols that guide interpretation and care., Clinical Trial Registration: URL: http://www.ANZCTR.org.au. Unique identifier: ACTRN12611000879965., (© 2016 American Heart Association, Inc.)

BACKGROUND- An evidence-practice gap in acute coronary syndromes (ACS) is commonly recognized. System, provider, and patient factors can influence guideline adherence. Through using guideline facilitators in the clinical setting, the uptake of evidence-based recommendations may be increased. We hypothesized that facilitators of guideline recommendations (systems, tools, and workforce) in acute cardiac care were associated with increased guideline adherence and decreased adverse outcome. METHODS AND RESULTS- A cross-sectional evaluation of guideline facilitators was conducted in Australian hospitals. The population was derived from the Acute Coronary Syndrome Prospective Audit (ACACIA) and assessed performance, death, and recurrent myocardial infarction (death/re-MI) at 30 days and 12 months. Thirty-five hospitals and 2392 patients participated. Significant associations with decreased death/re-MI were observed with hospital strategies to facilitate primary percutaneous coronary intervention for ST-elevation MI patients (38/428 [8.9%] versus 30/154 [19.5%], P<0.001) and after adjustment (odds ratio [OR], 0.47 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.24 to 0.90], P<0.023), electronic discharge checklists (none: 233/1956 [11.9%], integrated; 43/251[17.1%], P=0.069, electronic; 6/124 [4.8%], P<0.001) and after adjustment (integrated versus none: OR, 1.66 [95% CI, 0.98 to 2.80], P=0.057 and electronic versus none: OR, 0.49 [95% CI, 0.35 to 0.68], P<0.001), and intensive cardiac care unit (ICCU) staff-to-patient ratios (neither: 200/1257 (15.9%), CCU: 135/1051 (12.8%), ICCU: 8/84 (9.5%), P=0.049 and after adjustment (CCU versus neither: OR, 0.74 [95% CI, 0.47 to 1.14], P=0.172 and ICCU versus neither: OR, 0.55; [95% CI, 0.38 to 0.81] P=0.003). CONCLUSIONS- Facilitating uptake of evidence in clinical practice may need to consider quality improvement systems, tools and workforce to achieve optimal ACS outcomes.

The article presents a study which concluded that adverse clinical outcomes in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) care decrease with adherence to evidence-based guidelines. Guidance compliance is said to be facilitated and ensured by quality improvement tools and systems, examples of which are a standard protocol for administering timely percutaneous coronary intervention, an electronic discharge checklist and an electronic decision support program that is embedded in the clinical workflow.