Research In Brief
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Performance measures for heart failure: None of the widely recognized hospital performance measures for heart failure therapy correlate to reduced mortality or re-hospitalization, according to a study in the Jan. 3 Journal of the American Medical Association. Gregg Fonarow, M.D., University of California Los Angeles Medical Center, et al. reviewed 60- to 90-day postdischarge data from 5,791 patients at 91 U.S. hospitals between March 2003 and December 2004. The only performance measures associated with mortality or re-hospitalization were angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) use at discharge and beta-blockade use at discharge. The Organized Program to Initiate Lifesaving Treatment in Hospitalized Patients with Heart Failure (OPTIMIZE-HF) study looked at the five process measures adopted by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association. They are: discharge instructions, evaluation of left ventricular systolic function, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or ARB for left ventricular systolic dysfunction, smoking cessation counseling, and anticoagulant at discharge for patients with atrial fibrillation. "Additional measures may be required to more effectively quantify the quality of care provided to heart failure patients in the hospital setting," the authors write...