ICare-ACS (Improving Care Processes for Patients With Suspected Acute Coronary Syndrome): A Study of Cross-System Implementation of a National Clinical Pathway
BACKGROUND:Efforts to safely reduce length of stay for emergency department patients with symptoms suggestive of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) have had mixed success. Few system-wide efforts affecting multiple hospital emergency departments have ever been evaluated. We evaluated the effectiveness of...
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Published in | Circulation (New York, N.Y.) Vol. 137; no. 4; pp. 354 - 363 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
by the American College of Cardiology Foundation and the American Heart Association, Inc
23.01.2018
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | BACKGROUND:Efforts to safely reduce length of stay for emergency department patients with symptoms suggestive of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) have had mixed success. Few system-wide efforts affecting multiple hospital emergency departments have ever been evaluated. We evaluated the effectiveness of a nationwide implementation of clinical pathways for potential ACS in disparate hospitals.
METHODS:This was a multicenter pragmatic stepped-wedge before-and-after trial in 7 New Zealand acute care hospitals with 31 332 patients investigated for suspected ACS with serial troponin measurements. The implementation was a clinical pathway for the assessment of patients with suspected ACS that included a clinical pathway document in paper or electronic format, structured risk stratification, specified time points for electrocardiographic and serial troponin testing within 3 hours of arrival, and directions for combining risk stratification and electrocardiographic and troponin testing in an accelerated diagnostic protocol. Implementation was monitored for >4 months and compared with usual care over the preceding 6 months. The main outcome measure was the odds of discharge within 6 hours of presentation
RESULTS:There were 11 529 participants in the preimplementation phase (range, 284–3465) and 19 803 in the postimplementation phase (range, 395–5039). Overall, the mean 6-hour discharge rate increased from 8.3% (range, 2.7%–37.7%) to 18.4% (6.8%–43.8%). The odds of being discharged within 6 hours increased after clinical pathway implementation. The odds ratio was 2.4 (95% confidence interval, 2.3–2.6). In patients without ACS, the median length of hospital stays decreased by 2.9 hours (95% confidence interval, 2.4–3.4). For patients discharged within 6 hours, there was no change in 30-day major adverse cardiac event rates (0.52% versus 0.44%; P=0.96). In these patients, no adverse event occurred when clinical pathways were correctly followed.
CONCLUSIONS:Implementation of clinical pathways for suspected ACS reduced the length of stay and increased the proportions of patients safely discharged within 6 hours.
CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION:URLhttps://www.anzctr.org.au/ (Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry). Unique identifierACTRN12617000381381. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-3 content type line 23 ObjectType-Undefined-2 |
ISSN: | 0009-7322 1524-4539 |
DOI: | 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.117.031984 |