Sudden cardiac arrest prevention pathways and tools.

Evidence-based consensus treatment guidelines are available to assist physicians with management of patients at risk for sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), including patients with heart failure and those after myocardial infarction with left ventricular dysfunction. Although it has been generally presumed that health care providers incorporate cardiovascular treatment guidelines into clinical practice, the actual assimilation of evidence-based strategies and guidelines has been demonstrated to be less than ideal. Studies of heart failure and postmyocardial infarction care show that treatment guidelines are slowly adopted and inconsistently applied, and thus often fail to lead to improvements in patient care and outcomes. These treatment gaps may result in part because evidence-based tools to identify appropriate patients and provide practitioners with useful reminders based on the guidelines have not been widely available. The SCA prevention pathways and tools program is a comprehensive set of pathways and tools to help facilitate optimal patient care for those at increased risk for SCA, including patients with a prior myocardial infarction with left ventricular dysfunction and those with heart failure. Intended for inpatient, outpatient, and transitional care settings, the SCA prevention pathways and tools program supports the recognition and implementation of evidence-based, guideline-recommended care in eligible patients without contraindications. By facilitating best-care practices, the program aims to assist physicians and other health care providers in a meaningful way to improve cardiovascular care and optimize clinical outcomes.