Daan Aeyels1, Deborah Seys1, Peter R Sinnaeve2, Marc J Claeys3, Sofie Gevaert4, Danny Schoors5, Walter Sermeus1, Massimiliano Panella6, Luk Bruyneel1,7, Kris Vanhaecht1,7. 1. 1 Leuven Institute for Healthcare Policy, University of Leuven, Belgium. 2. 2 Department of Cardiology, University Hospitals Leuven, Belgium. 3. 3 Department of Cardiology, Antwerp University Hospital, Belgium. 4. 4 Department of Cardiology, University Hospital Ghent, Belgium. 5. 5 Department of Cardiology, University Hospitals Brussels, Belgium. 6. 6 Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Amedeo Avogadro University of Eastern Piedmont, Italy. 7. 7 Department of Quality Management, University Hospitals Leuven, Belgium.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: A focus on specific priorities increases the success rate of quality improvement efforts for broad and complex-care processes. Importance-performance analysis presents a possible approach to set priorities around which to design and implement effective quality improvement initiatives. Persistent variation in hospital performance makes ST-elevation myocardial infarction care relevant to consider for importance-performance analysis. AIMS: The purpose of this study was to identify quality improvement priorities in ST-elevation myocardial infarction care. METHODS: Importance and performance levels of ST-elevation myocardial infarction key interventions were combined in an importance-performance analysis. Content validity indexes on 23 ST-elevation myocardial infarction key interventions of a multidisciplinary RAND Delphi Survey defined importance levels. Structured review of 300 patient records in 15 acute hospitals determined performance levels. The significance of between-hospital variation was determined by a Kruskal-Wallis test. A performance heat-map allowed for hospital-specific priority setting. RESULTS: Seven key interventions were each rated as an overall improvement priority. Priority key interventions related to risk assessment, timely reperfusion by percutaneous coronary intervention and secondary prevention. Between-hospital performance varied significantly for the majority of key interventions. The type and number of priorities varied strongly across hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: Guideline adherence in ST-elevation myocardial infarction care is low and improvement priorities vary between hospitals. Importance-performance analysis helps clinicians and management in demarcation of the nature, number and order of improvement priorities. By offering a tailored improvement focus, this methodology makes improvement efforts more specific and achievable.
BACKGROUND: A focus on specific priorities increases the success rate of quality improvement efforts for broad and complex-care processes. Importance-performance analysis presents a possible approach to set priorities around which to design and implement effective quality improvement initiatives. Persistent variation in hospital performance makes ST-elevation myocardial infarction care relevant to consider for importance-performance analysis. AIMS: The purpose of this study was to identify quality improvement priorities in ST-elevation myocardial infarction care. METHODS: Importance and performance levels of ST-elevation myocardial infarction key interventions were combined in an importance-performance analysis. Content validity indexes on 23 ST-elevation myocardial infarction key interventions of a multidisciplinary RAND Delphi Survey defined importance levels. Structured review of 300 patient records in 15 acute hospitals determined performance levels. The significance of between-hospital variation was determined by a Kruskal-Wallis test. A performance heat-map allowed for hospital-specific priority setting. RESULTS: Seven key interventions were each rated as an overall improvement priority. Priority key interventions related to risk assessment, timely reperfusion by percutaneous coronary intervention and secondary prevention. Between-hospital performance varied significantly for the majority of key interventions. The type and number of priorities varied strongly across hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: Guideline adherence in ST-elevation myocardial infarction care is low and improvement priorities vary between hospitals. Importance-performance analysis helps clinicians and management in demarcation of the nature, number and order of improvement priorities. By offering a tailored improvement focus, this methodology makes improvement efforts more specific and achievable.