A Quality Improvement Framework for Equity in Cardiovascular Care
The results from a 32-month long national collaborative, Expecting Success: Excellence in Cardiac Care show that collection of self-reported patient data on race, ethnicity, and language can be applied with quality improvement techniques to benefit cardiovascular care outcomes for minority patients.
Ten acute care hospitals were selected for the initiative based on their diverse patient population. Black and Hispanic patients were studied in this collaborative based on their large size and prior knowledge of the disparity in the medical and surgical cardiovascular care they receive.
Key Findings:
Hospitals in the program had the ability to monitor and improve the quality of acute myocardial infarction and heart failure care they provided to minority patients.
Seven out of 10 hospitals showed a statistically significant improvement in care and three were able to eliminate disparities during the course of the program.
Several limitations to this study exist. The hospitals were not compared to matched controls; the hospitals were not randomly selected; each hospital received a $200,000 grant to participate; and only a small sample of hospitals were evaluated. Still, future studies can be conducted using the same collaborative approach to evaluate the effectiveness in other clinical areas beyond cardiovascular care in minority patients.
Ten acute care hospitals were selected for the initiative based on their diverse patient population. Black and Hispanic patients were studied in this collaborative based on their large size and prior knowledge of the disparity in the medical and surgical cardiovascular care they receive.
Key Findings:
Hospitals in the program had the ability to monitor and improve the quality of acute myocardial infarction and heart failure care they provided to minority patients.
Seven out of 10 hospitals showed a statistically significant improvement in care and three were able to eliminate disparities during the course of the program.
Several limitations to this study exist. The hospitals were not compared to matched controls; the hospitals were not randomly selected; each hospital received a $200,000 grant to participate; and only a small sample of hospitals were evaluated. Still, future studies can be conducted using the same collaborative approach to evaluate the effectiveness in other clinical areas beyond cardiovascular care in minority patients.
Author:
Siegel B, Sears V, Bretsch JK, Wilson M, Jones KC, Mead H, Hasnain-Wynia R, Ayala Knowles R, Bhalla R, Cornue CM, Emrich CM, Patel P, Setzer JR, Suitonu J, Velazquez EJ, Eagle Allan K and Winniford MD
Resource Date:
April, 2012
Resource Type:
Topics:
URL:
http://www.miamidadematters.org/content/sites/miamidade/A_Quality_Improvement_Framework_for_Equity_in_Cardiovascular_Care__Results_of_a_National_Collaborative.pdf