Process and outcome of care for acute myocardial infarction among Medicare beneficiaries in Connecticut: a quality improvement demonstration project
Article Abstract:
Hospitals may need to review their procedures in order to improve treatment for heart attack patients who are admitted on Medicare. An experimental Peer Review Team analyzed the records of 300 Medicare patients from 6 hospitals who had been admitted for a heart attack. These records were reviewed for accuracy of diagnosis, the frequency of follow up medications prescribed, and the effect that these medications had on one year survival rates. The accuracy of the diagnoses ranged from 92-98%. However, only 35-79% of the patients eligible for follow up medication received it. The patients who received the follow up treatment had a 92% survival rate at one year. Those patients who received no further treatment had a one year survival rate of 74%. Since this peer review, three of the six hospitals have begun projects to improve the care at their facilities.
Publication Name: Annals of Internal Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0003-4819
Year: 1995
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Aspirin for secondary prevention after acute myocardial infarction in the elderly: prescribed use and outcomes
Article Abstract:
The increased use of aspirin in eligible elderly patients following a heart attack may improve survival rates. Researchers analyzed the frequency of long-term aspirin prescription in 5,490 eligible patients 65 years and older after a heart attack and documented the death rates 6 months after leaving the hospital. Overall, only 76% of these patients had instructions to take aspirin after leaving the hospital. At 6 months, 8.4% of the patients taking aspirin had died while 17% of the patients not taking aspirin had died. Doctors prescribed aspirin more frequently to discharged patients who had normal blood flow, bypass surgery, procedures to widen narrowed or blocked blood vessels, or those treated with aspirin or beta-blockers while in the hospital.
Publication Name: Annals of Internal Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0003-4819
Year: 1996
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Quality of care, process, and outcomes in elderly patients with pneumonia
Article Abstract:
Mortality rates among elderly patients with pneumonia could be reduced if certain processes were followed consistently. Researchers analyzed the medical records of 14,069 elderly pneumonia patients in 3,555 hospitals nationwide to see if they had received two processes associated with lower mortality rates. About three-quarters had received antibiotics within eight hours of admission, while only 57% gave blood samples before antibiotic administration. These processes were associated with 10% to 15% reductions in the 30-day mortality rate. In some states, only half the patients received either one of these processes.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1997
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