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Title: | Do inter-hospital comparisons of in-hospital, acute myocardial infarction case-fatality rates serve the purpose of fostering quality improvement? An evaluative study | Authors: | Aelvoet, Willem Terryn, Nathalie MOLENBERGHS, Geert De Backer, Guy Vrints, Christiaan van Sprundel, Marc |
Issue Date: | 2010 | Publisher: | BIOMED CENTRAL LTD | Source: | BMC HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH, 10 | Abstract: | Background: In-hospital case-fatality rates in patients, admitted for acute myocardial infarction (AMI-CFRs), are internationally used as a quality indicator. Attempting to encourage the hospitals to assume responsibility, the Belgian Ministry of Health decided to stimulate initiatives of quality improvement by means of a limited set of indicators, among which AMI-CFR, to be routinely analyzed. In this study we aimed, by determining the existence of inter-hospital differences in AMI-CFR, (1) to evaluate to which extent Belgian discharge records allow the assessment of quality of care in the field of AMI, and (2) to identify starting points for quality improvement. Methods: Hospital discharge records from all the Belgian short-term general hospitals in the period 2002-2005. The study population (N = 46,287) included patients aged 18 years and older, hospitalized for AMI. No unique patient identifier being present, we tried to track transferred patients. We assessed data quality through a comparison of MCD with data from two registers for acute coronary events and through transfer and sensitivity analyses. We compared AMI-CFRs across hospitals, using multivariable logistic regression models. In the main model hospitals, Charlson's co-morbidity index, age, gender and shock constituted the covariates. We carried out two types of analyses: a first one wherein transferred-out cases were excluded, to avoid double counting of patients when computing rates, and a second one with exclusion of all transferred cases, to allow the study of patients admitted into, treated in and discharged from the same hospital. Results: We identified problems regarding both the CFR's numerator and denominator. Sensitivity analyses revealed differential coding and/or case management practices. In the model with exclusion of transfer-out cases, the main determinants of AMI-CFR were cardiogenic shock (ORadj 23.0; 95% CI [20.9; 25.2]), and five-year age groups ORadj 1.23; 95% CI [1.11; 1.36]). Sizable inter-hospital and inter-type of hospital differences {(OR(comunity vs tertiary hospitals)1.36; 95% CI [1.34; 1.39]) and (OR(intermediary vs tertiary hospitals)1.36; 95% CI [1.34; 1.39])}, and nonconformities to guidelines for treatment were observed. Conclusions: Despite established data quality shortcomings, the magnitude of the observed differences and the nonconformities constitute leads to quality improvement. However, to measure progress, ways to improve and routinely monitor data quality should be developed. | Notes: | [Aelvoet, Willem; Terryn, Nathalie] Fed Serv Hlth Food Chain Safety & Environm, Directorate Gen Org Hlth Care Estab, B-1060 Brussels, Belgium. [Aelvoet, Willem; van Sprundel, Marc] Univ Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium. [Aelvoet, Willem] Vrije Univ Brussel, Fac Geneeskunde & Farm, Brussels, Belgium. [Molenberghs, Geert] Univ Hasselt, Interuniv Inst Biostat & Stat Bioinformat, Hasselt, Belgium. [Molenberghs, Geert] Katholieke Univ Leuven, Louvain, Belgium. [De Backer, Guy] Univ Ghent, Dept Publ Hlth, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. [De Backer, Guy] Ghent Univ Hosp, Div Cardiol, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. [Vrints, Christiaan] Univ Antwerp Hosp, Div Cardiol, Antwerp, Belgium. willem.aelvoet@health.fgov.be | Document URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/1942/11745 | e-ISSN: | 1472-6963 | DOI: | 10.1186/1472-6963-10-334 | ISI #: | 000285918800001 | Rights: | © 2010 Aelvoet et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. | Category: | A1 | Type: | Journal Contribution | Validations: | ecoom 2012 |
Appears in Collections: | Research publications |
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AMI_BMC_HSR2_09072010[1].pdf | Peer-reviewed author version | 122.35 kB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
molenberghs 1.pdf Restricted Access | Published version | 267.46 kB | Adobe PDF | View/Open Request a copy |
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