Do inter-hospital comparisons of in-hospital, acute myocardial infarction case-fatality rates serve the purpose of fostering quality improvement? An evaluative study.

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

SUBMITTER: Aelvoet W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3016357 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature