Clinical Reminders Attached to Echocardiography Reports of Patients With Reduced Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction Increase Use of β-Blockers

Clinical decision support systems for heart failure management optimization: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

BackgroundHeart failure (HF) patients are frequently rehospitalized shortly after discharge. Telemonitoring and Clinical decision support systems (CDSS) health alert follow-up may reduce the mortality and hospitalization in HF patients following discharge.MethodologyWe conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Embase, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trial until May 2024. Dichotomous data were pooled using risk ratio (RR) and continuous data using mean difference. This systematic review and meta-analysis was registered with PROSPERO ID: CRD42024555577.ResultsWe included eight RCTs with a total of 7661 patients. Patients managed by CDSS were at lower risk of all-cause mortality than those who received usual care [RR: 0.64 with 95% confidence interval [CI] (0.45, 0.92), p = 0.01]. However, there was no difference in all-cause hospitalization [RR: 0.99 with 95% CI (0.88, 1.11), p = 0.84] between both groups. Additionally, CDSS led to a significant increase in mineralocorticoid antagonist (MRA) prescription compared to usual care [RR: 1.77 with 95% CI (1.48, 2.11), p < 0.00001], but there was no difference in addition of all-class guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) [RR: 1.23 with 95% CI (1.00, 1.52), p = 0.05] between the both groups.ConclusionClinical decision support systems significantly reduced all-cause mortality and increased MRA prescription. Still, there was no difference in all-cause hospitalization and the addition of all-class GDMT. More robust studies with longer follow-ups are therefore required to thoroughly examine the efficacy of CDSS in optimizing HF management.

Heart failure management guidelines: New recommendations and implementation

The prevalence of heart failure has increased in many developed countries including Japan and the USA, due in large part to the aging of their populations. The lifetime risk of heart failure is now 20-30 % in the USA. Fortunately, there have been important advances in therapy that increase quality and length of life for those with heart failure. This review discusses the important advances in care including treatment and diagnosis and the new recommendations for this care from the recent American College of Cardiology (ACC)/American Heart Association (AHA)/Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA) Guideline. Relevant studies that have been published since the guideline was released are also included. Of the many recommendations in the ACC/AHA/HFSA Guideline, this review focuses on the definition of heart failure, the medical treatments specific to left ventricular ejection fraction, use of devices for treatment and diagnosis, diagnosis and treatment of amyloidosis, treatment of iron deficiency, screening for asymptomatic left ventricular dysfunction, use of patient reported outcomes, and tools for implementation.

Interventions to Increase Leukocyte Testing during Treatment with Dimethyl Fumarate

Dimethyl fumarate (DMF), a treatment for multiple sclerosis, may cause leukopenia and infection. Accordingly, periodic white blood cell (WBC) monitoring is recommended. We sought to evaluate the US Department of Veteran Affairs’ safety program which provides facilities with a list of patients prescribed DMF therapy without a documented white blood cell count (WBC). We identified 118 sites with patients treated with DMF from 1 January 2016 through 30 September 2016. Each site was asked if any of seven interventions were used to improve WBC monitoring (academic detailing, provider education without academic detailing, electronic clinical reminders, request for provider action plan, draft orders for WBC monitoring, patient mailings, and patient calls). The survey response rate was 78%. For the 92 responding sites (78%) included sites (1115 patients) the mean rate of WBC monitoring was 54%. In multivariate analysis, academic detailing increased the rate by 17% (95% CI 4 to 30%, p = 0.011) and provider education increased the rate by 9% (95% CI 0.6 to 18%, p = 0.037). The WBC monitoring rate increased by 3.8% for each additional intervention used (95% CI 1.2–6.4%, p = 0.005). Interventions focused on the physician, including academic detailing, were associated with improved WBC monitoring for patients at risk for leukopenia from DMF treatment.

Consumer understanding of terms used in imaging reports requested for low back pain: a cross-sectional survey

OBJECTIVES

To investigate (1) self-reported societal comprehension of common and usually non-serious terms found in lumbar spine imaging reports and (2) its relationship to perceived seriousness, likely persistence of low back pain (LBP), fear of movement, back beliefs and history and intensity of LBP.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional online survey of the general public.

SETTING

Five English-speaking countries: UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

PARTICIPANTS

Adults (age >18 years) with or without a history of LBP recruited in April 2019 with quotas for country, age and gender.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES

Self-reported understanding of 14 terms (annular fissure, disc bulge, disc degeneration, disc extrusion, disc height loss, disc protrusion, disc signal loss, facet joint degeneration, high intensity zone, mild canal stenosis, Modic changes, nerve root contact, spondylolisthesis and spondylosis) commonly found in lumbar spine imaging reports. For each term, we also elicited worry about its seriousness, and whether its presence would indicate pain persistence and prompt fear of movement.

RESULTS

From 774 responses, we included 677 (87.5%) with complete and valid responses. 577 (85%) participants had a current or past history of LBP of whom 251 (44%) had received lumbar spine imaging. Self-reported understanding of all terms was poor. At best, 235 (35%) reported understanding the term 'disc degeneration', while only 71 (10.5%) reported understanding the term 'Modic changes'. For all terms, a moderate to large proportion of participants (range 59%-71%), considered they indicated a serious back problem, that pain might persist (range 52%-71%) and they would be fearful of movement (range 42%-57%).

CONCLUSION

Common and usually non-serious terms in lumbar spine imaging reports are poorly understood by the general population and may contribute to the burden of LBP.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

ACTRN12619000545167.

Development and Piloting of a Patient-Centered Report Design for Stress Myocardial Perfusion Imaging Results

IMPORTANCE

The management of coronary disease epitomizes the call to better engage patients in shared medical decision-making. Myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is the foundation of diagnosis, risk stratification, and subsequent therapy; however, MPI reports are currently interpretable by specialists but not patients.

OBJECTIVE

To design and test a patient-centered report for stress MPI test results.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

This qualitative study of outpatients who underwent an MPI stress test and clinicians used a mixed methods approach. Phase 1 (December 2018 to July 2019) used qualitative methods to design a patient-centered reporting tool, with 5 focus groups with 36 patients and 2 focus groups with 27 clinicians. Phase 2 (June to September 2019) consisted of pilot testing the reporting tool with feedback from a structured survey given to patients who received MPI reports before and after implementing the tool.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Key themes around patient experiences with the current MPI reporting and their desire for a more useful report were identified, which led to a sample reporting tool after serial iterations with feedback. Differences in patient knowledge and engagement were assessed between patients before and after implementation of the new reporting tool using χ2 tests.

RESULTS

From patient focus groups (26 patients; mean [SD] age, 66.3 [9.6] years, 9 [35%] women), 3 themes on the inadequacies of current MPI reporting were identified: (1) inconsistent delivery of results, (2) use of medical jargon, and (3) unclear posttest course. We identified 5 themes for a more patient-centered MPI report: desire for written information, discussion of the report with medical personnel, presentation of results in simple language with use of visual graphics, comparisons with normal results, and personalized risk estimates. In a pilot survey with 123 patients split into a pre-implementation group (69 patients; mean [SD] age, 68.2 [8.5] years; 27 [51%] women) and a postimplementation group (54 patients; mean [SD] age, 66.4 [8.7] years; 30 [56%] women), the patient-centered report led to more patients reading the entire report (45 [83%] vs 46 [67%]; P = .04) and improved knowledge of future risk of cardiac events (41 [76%] vs 20 [29%]; P < .001). There was also a numerically higher percentage of patients who found the report easy to read (45 [83%] vs 44 [68%]; P = .05) and understand (42 [78%] vs 43 [66%]; P = .16), although these results were not statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

This study identified key elements of a patient-centered report design for stress MPI test results, which improved patient engagement and knowledge. These preliminary data support further implementation and study of a more patient-centered MPI report.

Trigger Finger Treatment: Identifying Predictors of Nonadherence and Cost

BACKGROUND

Evidence-based practices in medicine are linked with a higher quality of care and lower health care cost. For trigger finger, identifying patient factors associated with nonadherence to evidence-based practices will aid physicians in treatment decisions. The objectives were to (1) determine patient factors associated with treatment nonadherence, (2) examine the success rates of steroid injections, and (3) evaluate the economic consequences of nonadherence to treatment recommendations.

METHODS

The authors used data from the Clinformatics DataMart database from 2010 to 2017 to conduct a population-based analysis of patients with single-digit trigger finger. The authors calculated rates of steroid injection success and examined associations between injection success and patient factors using chi-square tests. In addition, the authors analyzed differences in the cost to the insurer, the cost to the patient, and total cost.

RESULTS

A total of 29,722 patients were included in this analysis. Injection success rates were similar for diabetic (72 percent) and nondiabetic patients (73 percent), women (73 percent), and men (73 percent). Nonetheless, diabetics (OR, 1.4; 95 percent CI, 1.4 to 1.5; p < 0.001) and women (OR, 1.2; 95 percent CI, 1.1 to 1.2; p < 0.001) were significantly more likely to receive nonadherent treatment. In total, $23 million (U.S. dollars) were spent on nonadherent trigger finger care.

CONCLUSIONS

Diabetics and women have increased odds of having surgery without a prior steroid injection, despite similar success rates of steroid injections compared to nondiabetics and men. Because performing surgical release before any steroid injections may represent a higher cost treatment option, providers should provide steroid injections before surgery for all patients regardless of diabetes status or sex to minimize overtreatment.

CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Risk, III.

Enhancing clinician and patient understanding of radiology reports: a scoping review of international guidelines

Imaging reports are the primary method of communicating diagnostic imaging findings between the radiologist and the referring clinician. Guidelines produced by professional bodies provide guidance on content and format of imaging reports, but the extent to which they consider comprehensibility for referring clinicians and their patients is unclear. The objective of this review was to determine the extent to which radiology reporting guidelines consider comprehensibility of imaging reports for referring clinicians and patients.We performed a scoping review of English-language diagnostic imaging reporting guidelines. We searched electronic databases (OVID MEDLINE, Embase) and websites of radiological professional organisations to identify guidelines. The extent to which the guidelines recommended essential report features such as technical information, content, format and language, as well as features to enhance comprehensibility, such as lay language summaries, was recorded.Six guidelines from professional bodies representing radiologists from the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, Hong Kong, the UK and Europe were identified from the search. Inconsistencies exist between guidelines in their recommendations, and they rarely consider that patients may read the report. No guideline made recommendations about the reporting of results considering the clinical context, and none recommended features preferred by patients such as lay language summaries. This review identifies an opportunity for future radiology reporting guidelines to give greater consideration to referring clinician and patient preferences.

Translating Hand Surgery Evidence to Policy and Practice

Hand surgery researchers should focus on developing high-quality evidence to support the development of health policies affecting surgical care. Policy-makers and leaders of national hand societies can help reduce the variation of care for patients receiving hand surgery by incorporating evidence into guidelines and policies. Comprehensive guidelines for perioperative care help encourage the translation of evidence into practice. Moreover, the identification of institutional-level barriers and facilitators of integration ensures the successful implementation of hand surgery-specific programs. The development of robust metrics to evaluate the effect of policy on practice helps examine the feasibility of clinical guidelines.

Manually-generated reminders delivered on paper: effects on professional practice and patient outcomes

BACKGROUND

Health professionals sometimes do not use the best evidence to treat their patients, in part due to unconscious acts of omission and information overload. Reminders help clinicians overcome these problems by prompting them to recall information that they already know, or by presenting information in a different and more accessible format. Manually-generated reminders delivered on paper are defined as information given to the health professional with each patient or encounter, provided on paper, in which no computer is involved in the production or delivery of the reminder. Manually-generated reminders delivered on paper are relatively cheap interventions, and are especially relevant in settings where electronic clinical records are not widely available and affordable. This review is one of three Cochrane Reviews focused on the effectiveness of reminders in health care.

OBJECTIVES

1. To determine the effectiveness of manually-generated reminders delivered on paper in changing professional practice and improving patient outcomes. 2. To explore whether a number of potential effect modifiers influence the effectiveness of manually-generated reminders delivered on paper.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL and two trials registers on 5 December 2018. We searched grey literature, screened individual journals, conference proceedings and relevant systematic reviews, and reviewed reference lists and cited references of included studies.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We included randomised and non-randomised trials assessing the impact of manually-generated reminders delivered on paper as a single intervention (compared with usual care) or added to one or more co-interventions as a multicomponent intervention (compared with the co-intervention(s) without the reminder component) on professional practice or patients' outcomes. We also included randomised and non-randomised trials comparing manually-generated reminders with other quality improvement (QI) interventions.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two review authors screened studies for eligibility and abstracted data independently. We extracted the primary outcome as defined by the authors or calculated the median effect size across all reported outcomes in each study. We then calculated the median percentage improvement and interquartile range across the included studies that reported improvement related outcomes, and assessed the certainty of the evidence using the GRADE approach.

MAIN RESULTS

We identified 63 studies (41 cluster-randomised trials, 18 individual randomised trials, and four non-randomised trials) that met all inclusion criteria. Fifty-seven studies reported usable data (64 comparisons). The studies were mainly located in North America (42 studies) and the UK (eight studies). Fifty-four studies took place in outpatient/ambulatory settings. The clinical areas most commonly targeted were cardiovascular disease management (11 studies), cancer screening (10 studies) and preventive care (10 studies), and most studies had physicians as their target population (57 studies). General management of a clinical condition (17 studies), test-ordering (14 studies) and prescription (10 studies) were the behaviours more commonly targeted by the intervention. Forty-eight studies reported changes in professional practice measured as dichotomous process adherence outcomes (e.g. compliance with guidelines recommendations), 16 reported those changes measured as continuous process-of-care outcomes (e.g. number of days with catheters), eight reported dichotomous patient outcomes (e.g. mortality rates) and five reported continuous patient outcomes (e.g. mean systolic blood pressure). Manually-generated reminders delivered on paper probably improve professional practice measured as dichotomous process adherence outcomes) compared with usual care (median improvement 8.45% (IQR 2.54% to 20.58%); 39 comparisons, 40,346 participants; moderate certainty of evidence) and may make little or no difference to continuous process-of-care outcomes (8 comparisons, 3263 participants; low certainty of evidence). Adding manually-generated paper reminders to one or more QI co-interventions may slightly improve professional practice measured as dichotomous process adherence outcomes (median improvement 4.24% (IQR -1.09% to 5.50%); 12 comparisons, 25,359 participants; low certainty of evidence) and probably slightly improve professional practice measured as continuous outcomes (median improvement 0.28 (IQR 0.04 to 0.51); 2 comparisons, 12,372 participants; moderate certainty of evidence). Compared with other QI interventions, manually-generated reminders may slightly decrease professional practice measured as process adherence outcomes (median decrease 7.9% (IQR -0.7% to 11%); 14 comparisons, 21,274 participants; low certainty of evidence). We are uncertain whether manually-generated reminders delivered on paper, compared with usual care or with other QI intervention, lead to better or worse patient outcomes (dichotomous or continuous), as the certainty of the evidence is very low (10 studies, 13 comparisons). Reminders added to other QI interventions may make little or no difference to patient outcomes (dichotomous or continuous) compared with the QI alone (2 studies, 2 comparisons). Regarding resource use, studies reported additional costs per additional point of effectiveness gained, but because of the different currencies and years used the relevance of those figures is uncertain. None of the included studies reported outcomes related to harms or adverse effects.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

Manually-generated reminders delivered on paper as a single intervention probably lead to small to moderate increases in outcomes related to adherence to clinical recommendations, and they could be used as a single QI intervention. It is uncertain whether reminders should be added to other QI intervention already in place in the health system, although the effects may be positive. If other QI interventions, such as patient or computerised reminders, are available, they should be preferred over manually-generated reminders, but under close evaluation in order to decrease uncertainty about their potential effect.

Hospital-based quality improvement interventions for patients with heart failure: a systematic review

OBJECTIVE

To estimate the direction and magnitude of effect and quality of evidence for hospital-based heart failure (HF) quality improvement interventions on process of care measures and clinical outcomes among patients with acute HF.

REVIEW METHODS

We performed a structured search to identify relevant randomised trials evaluating the effect of in-hospital quality improvement interventions for patients hospitalised with HF through February 2017. Studies were independently reviewed in duplicate for key characteristics, outcomes were summarised and a qualitative synthesis was performed due to substantial heterogeneity.

RESULTS

From 3615 records, 14 randomised controlled trials were identified for inclusion with multifaceted interventions. There was a trend towards higher in-hospital use of ACE inhibitors (ACE-I; 57.9%vs40.0%) and beta-blockers (BBs; 46.7%vs10.2%) in the intervention than the comparator in one trial (n=429 participants). Five trials (n=78 727 participants) demonstrated no effect of the intervention on use of ACE-I or angiotensin receptor blocker at discharge. Three trials (n=89 660 participants) reported no effect on use of BB at discharge. Two trials (n=419 participants) demonstrated a trend towards lower hospital readmission up to 90 days after discharge. There was no consistent effect of the quality improvement intervention on 30-day all-cause mortality, hospital length of stay and patient-level health-related quality of life.

CONCLUSIONS

Randomised trials of hospital-based HF quality improvement interventions do not show a consistent effect on most process of care measures and clinical outcomes. The overall quality of evidence for the prespecified primary and key secondary outcomes was very low to moderate, suggesting that future research will likely influence these estimates.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

CRD42016049545.

Development and implementation of a mobile device-based pediatric electronic decision support tool as part of a national practice standardization project

Objective

Implementing evidence-based practices requires a multi-faceted approach. Electronic clinical decision support (ECDS) tools may encourage evidence-based practice adoption. However, data regarding the role of mobile ECDS tools in pediatrics is scant. Our objective is to describe the development, distribution, and usage patterns of a smartphone-based ECDS tool within a national practice standardization project.

Materials and Methods

We developed a smartphone-based ECDS tool for use in the American Academy of Pediatrics, Value in Inpatient Pediatrics Network project entitled "Reducing Excessive Variation in the Infant Sepsis Evaluation (REVISE)." The mobile application (app), PedsGuide, was developed using evidence-based recommendations created by an interdisciplinary panel. App workflow and content were aligned with clinical benchmarks; app interface was adjusted after usability heuristic review. Usage patterns were measured using Google Analytics.

Results

Overall, 3805 users across the United States downloaded PedsGuide from December 1, 2016, to July 31, 2017, leading to 14 256 use sessions (average 3.75 sessions per user). Users engaged in 60 442 screen views, including 37 424 (61.8%) screen views that displayed content related to the REVISE clinical practice benchmarks, including hospital admission appropriateness (26.8%), length of hospitalization (14.6%), and diagnostic testing recommendations (17.0%). Median user touch depth was 5 [IQR 5].

Discussion

We observed rapid dissemination and in-depth engagement with PedsGuide, demonstrating feasibility for using smartphone-based ECDS tools within national practice improvement projects.

Conclusions

ECDS tools may prove valuable in future national practice standardization initiatives. Work should next focus on developing robust analytics to determine ECDS tools' impact on medical decision making, clinical practice, and health outcomes.

The Future of Cardiac Imaging: Report of a Think Tank Convened by the American College of Cardiology

The American College of Cardiology's Executive Committee and Cardiovascular Imaging Section Leadership Council convened a discussion regarding the future of cardiac imaging among thought leaders in the field during a 2 day Think Tank. Participants were charged with thinking broadly about the future of imaging and developing a roadmap to address critical challenges. Key areas of discussion included: 1) how can cardiac imaging services thrive in our new world of value-based health care? 2) Who is the cardiac imager of the future and what is the role of the multimodality imager? 3) How can we nurture innovation and research in imaging? And 4) how can we maximize imaging information and optimize outcomes? This document describes the proceedings of this Think Tank.

Computer-generated reminders delivered on paper to healthcare professionals: effects on professional practice and healthcare outcomes

BACKGROUND

Clinical practice does not always reflect best practice and evidence, partly because of unconscious acts of omission, information overload, or inaccessible information. Reminders may help clinicians overcome these problems by prompting them to recall information that they already know or would be expected to know and by providing information or guidance in a more accessible and relevant format, at a particularly appropriate time. This is an update of a previously published review.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the effects of reminders automatically generated through a computerized system (computer-generated) and delivered on paper to healthcare professionals on quality of care (outcomes related to healthcare professionals' practice) and patient outcomes (outcomes related to patients' health condition).

SEARCH METHODS

We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, six other databases and two trials registers up to 21 September 2016 together with reference checking, citation searching and contact with study authors to identify additional studies.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We included individual- or cluster-randomized and non-randomized trials that evaluated the impact of computer-generated reminders delivered on paper to healthcare professionals, alone (single-component intervention) or in addition to one or more co-interventions (multi-component intervention), compared with usual care or the co-intervention(s) without the reminder component.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Review authors working in pairs independently screened studies for eligibility and abstracted data. For each study, we extracted the primary outcome when it was defined or calculated the median effect size across all reported outcomes. We then calculated the median improvement and interquartile range (IQR) across included studies using the primary outcome or median outcome as representative outcome. We assessed the certainty of the evidence according to the GRADE approach.

MAIN RESULTS

We identified 35 studies (30 randomized trials and five non-randomized trials) and analyzed 34 studies (40 comparisons). Twenty-nine studies took place in the USA and six studies took place in Canada, France, Israel, and Kenya. All studies except two took place in outpatient care. Reminders were aimed at enhancing compliance with preventive guidelines (e.g. cancer screening tests, vaccination) in half the studies and at enhancing compliance with disease management guidelines for acute or chronic conditions (e.g. annual follow-ups, laboratory tests, medication adjustment, counseling) in the other half.Computer-generated reminders delivered on paper to healthcare professionals, alone or in addition to co-intervention(s), probably improves quality of care slightly compared with usual care or the co-intervention(s) without the reminder component (median improvement 6.8% (IQR: 3.8% to 17.5%); 34 studies (40 comparisons); moderate-certainty evidence).Computer-generated reminders delivered on paper to healthcare professionals alone (single-component intervention) probably improves quality of care compared with usual care (median improvement 11.0% (IQR 5.4% to 20.0%); 27 studies (27 comparisons); moderate-certainty evidence). Adding computer-generated reminders delivered on paper to healthcare professionals to one or more co-interventions (multi-component intervention) probably improves quality of care slightly compared with the co-intervention(s) without the reminder component (median improvement 4.0% (IQR 3.0% to 6.0%); 11 studies (13 comparisons); moderate-certainty evidence).We are uncertain whether reminders, alone or in addition to co-intervention(s), improve patient outcomes as the certainty of the evidence is very low (n = 6 studies (seven comparisons)). None of the included studies reported outcomes related to harms or adverse effects of the intervention.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

There is moderate-certainty evidence that computer-generated reminders delivered on paper to healthcare professionals probably slightly improves quality of care, in terms of compliance with preventive guidelines and compliance with disease management guidelines. It is uncertain whether reminders improve patient outcomes because the certainty of the evidence is very low. The heterogeneity of the reminder interventions included in this review also suggests that reminders can probably improve quality of care in various settings under various conditions.

An informatics-based approach to reducing heart failure all-cause readmissions: the Stanford heart failure dashboard

BACKGROUND

Reduction of 30-day all-cause readmissions for heart failure (HF) has become an important quality-of-care metric for health care systems. Many hospitals have implemented quality improvement programs designed to reduce 30-day all-cause readmissions for HF. Electronic medical record (EMR)-based measures have been employed to aid in these efforts, but their use has been largely adjunctive to, rather than integrated with, the overall effort.

OBJECTIVES

We hypothesized that a comprehensive EMR-based approach utilizing an HF dashboard in addition to an established HF readmission reduction program would further reduce 30-day all-cause index hospital readmission rates for HF.

METHODS

After establishing a quality improvement program to reduce 30-day HF readmission rates, we instituted EMR-based measures designed to improve cohort identification, intervention tracking, and readmission analysis, the latter 2 supported by an electronic HF dashboard. Our primary outcome measure was the 30-day index hospital readmission rate for HF, with secondary measures including the accuracy of identification of patients with HF and the percentage of patients receiving interventions designed to reduce all-cause readmissions for HF.

RESULTS

The HF dashboard facilitated improved penetration of our interventions and reduced readmission rates by allowing the clinical team to easily identify cohorts with high readmission rates and/or low intervention rates. We significantly reduced 30-day index hospital all-cause HF readmission rates from 18.2% at baseline to 14% after implementation of our quality improvement program ( P  = .045). Implementation of our EMR-based approach further significantly reduced 30-day index hospital readmission rates for HF to 10.1% ( P for trend = .0001). Daily time to screen patients decreased from 1 hour to 15 minutes, accuracy of cohort identification improved from 83% to 94.6% ( P  = .0001), and the percentage of patients receiving our interventions, such as patient education, also improved significantly from 22% to 100% over time ( P  < .0001).

CONCLUSIONS

In an institution with a quality improvement program already in place to reduce 30-day readmission rates for HF, an EMR-based approach further significantly reduced 30-day index hospital readmission rates.

An Electronic Medical Record Report Improves Identification of Hospitalized Patients With Heart Failure

BACKGROUND

Early identification of inpatients with heart failure (HF) may help to reduce readmissions. We found that many patients identified by our coding team as having a primary diagnosis of HF were not identified by our clinical team. We hypothesized that an electronic medical record (EMR)-based report would improve identification of hospitalized patients eventually diagnosed with HF.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We constructed an automated EMR-based tool to allow our team to identify patients with HF more quickly and accurately. We selected criteria that could potentially identify the cohort as patients with an exacerbation of HF. We performed monthly reconciliations, comparing the list of patients identified by our coding team as having a primary diagnosis of HF versus the patients identified by our team as having HF. We reduced a baseline 17% discrepancy of patients coded as HF but not identified by our team to 9.5% in the year after implementation of our screening tool (P = .006), and to 5.4% in the next year (P = .03); 56% of patients that were identified as having HF by our CNS team were coded as having HF, versus 49% in the 2 years after implementation (P = .15). Thirty-day readmission rates to our hospital decreased from 16% to 11% (P = .029).

CONCLUSIONS

An EMR-based approach significantly improved identification of patients discharged with a primary diagnosis of HF. Future investigations should determine whether early identification of inpatients with HF can independently lower readmissions, and whether this strategy can successfully identify outpatients with HF.

Gaps in Medical and Device Therapy for Patients with Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction: The EchoGap Study

Objectives:

To assess gaps between guidelines and medicine prescription/dosing and referral for defibrillator therapy in patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD).

Methods:

Outpatient echocardiography reports at an academic hospital centre were screened and outpatients with LVEF<40% were included. A questionnaire was mailed to the patients’ physician, querying prescription/dosing of ACE-inhibitors (ACEi), angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) and beta-blockers (BB). Patients with LVEF<30% had additional questions on implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) referral.

Results:

Mean age was 69.6+/-12.2 years and mean LVEF was 29.7+/-6.5%. ACEi and/or ARB prescription rate was 260/309(84.1%) versus 256/308(83.1%) for BB (p=NS for comparison). Of patients on ACEi, 77/183(42.1%) were on target dose, compared to 7/45(15.5%) for ARB and 9/254(3.5%) for BB (p<0.01). Of 171/309 patients (55.3%) with LVEF<30%, 72/171(42.1%) had an ICD and 16/171(9.4%) were referred for one.

Conclusion:

Prescription rates of evidence-based HF medicines are relatively high in outpatients with LVSD referred for echocardiography at this Canadian academic medical centre; however, the proportion of patients at target doses was modest for ACEi and low for ARB and BB. Approximately half of patients who qualify for ICD by EF alone have one or were referred. Important reasons for patients with LVSD not on evidence-based therapy were identified.

Meta-regression analyses to explain statistical heterogeneity in a systematic review of strategies for guideline implementation in primary health care

This study is an in-depth-analysis to explain statistical heterogeneity in a systematic review of implementation strategies to improve guideline adherence of primary care physicians in the treatment of patients with cardiovascular diseases. The systematic review included randomized controlled trials from a systematic search in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, conference proceedings and registers of ongoing studies. Implementation strategies were shown to be effective with substantial heterogeneity of treatment effects across all investigated strategies. Primary aim of this study was to explain different effects of eligible trials and to identify methodological and clinical effect modifiers. Random effects meta-regression models were used to simultaneously assess the influence of multimodal implementation strategies and effect modifiers on physician adherence. Effect modifiers included the staff responsible for implementation, level of prevention and definition pf the primary outcome, unit of randomization, duration of follow-up and risk of bias. Six clinical and methodological factors were investigated as potential effect modifiers of the efficacy of different implementation strategies on guideline adherence in primary care practices on the basis of information from 75 eligible trials. Five effect modifiers were able to explain a substantial amount of statistical heterogeneity. Physician adherence was improved by 62% (95% confidence interval (95% CI) 29 to 104%) or 29% (95% CI 5 to 60%) in trials where other non-medical professionals or nurses were included in the implementation process. Improvement of physician adherence was more successful in primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases by around 30% (30%; 95% CI -2 to 71% and 31%; 95% CI 9 to 57%, respectively) compared to tertiary prevention. This study aimed to identify effect modifiers of implementation strategies on physician adherence. Especially the cooperation of different health professionals in primary care practices might increase efficacy and guideline implementation seems to be more difficult in tertiary prevention of cardiovascular diseases.

Strategies for guideline implementation in primary care focusing on patients with cardiovascular disease: a systematic review

BACKGROUND

Guidelines should reduce inappropriate practice and improve the efficiency of treatment. Not only methodological quality but also acceptance and successful implementation in daily practice are crucial for the benefit on patients. Focusing on cardiovascular diseases (CVD), it is still unclear which implementation strategy can improve physician adherence to the recommendations of guidelines in primary care.

METHODS

We conducted a systematic review on randomized controlled trials about guideline implementation strategies on CVD. Medline, Embase, CENTRAL, conference proceedings and registers of ongoing studies were searched.

RESULTS

Eighty-four trials met our predefined inclusion criteria, of them 54 trials compared unimodal strategies and 30 multimodal strategies to usual care. Concerning unimodal strategies, 15 trials investigated provider reminder systems, 3 audit and feedback, 15 provider education, 4 patient education, 5 promotion of self-management and 14 organizational change. The strongest benefit of a unimodal implementation strategy was found due to organizational change (odds ratio 1.96; 95% CI 1.4 to 2.75), followed by patient education, provider education and provider reminder systems. Trials on the efficacy of audit and feedback and patient self-management showed differing results or small advantages in terms of physician adherence. Multimodal interventions showed almost similar effect measures and ranking of strategies.

CONCLUSION

The use of implementation strategies for the distribution of guidelines on CVD can be convincingly effective on physician adherence, regardless whether based on a unimodal or multimodal design. Three distinct strategies should be well considered in such an attempt: organizational changes in the primary care team, patient education and provider education.

Clinical reminders to providers of patients with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction increase defibrillator referral: a randomized trial

BACKGROUND

Many patients who are candidates for implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) are not referred for potential implantation. We sought to determine if a simple provider reminder would increase referrals.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We identified consecutive patients from January 2007 through July 2010 in the VA Palo Alto Health Care System with a left ventricular ejection fraction<35% on echocardiography. Patients were excluded using available administrative data only (no chart review) if they were known to have an ICD, if they were ≥80 years old, or if they did not have a current primary care or cardiology provider within the system. We randomized patients to no intervention or a clinical note to the provider in the medical record. The outcomes were referral for consideration of defibrillator implantation (primary) and documented discussion (secondary). Of 330 patients with left ventricular ejection fraction≤35%, 128 were known to have an ICD, 85 were no longer followed in the healthcare system, and 28 were ≥80 years old, leaving 89 patients to be randomized. Forty-six patients were randomized to intervention and 43 to control. Eleven of 46 (24%) intervention patients were referred for consideration of ICD implantation during the following 6 months versus 1 of 43 (2%) control patients (P=0.004). Overall, 31 of 46 (67%) intervention patients versus 19 of 43 (44%) control patients had documentation discussing potential candidacy for defibrillators (P=0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

In patients with low left ventricular ejection fraction, a simple electronic medical record-based intervention directed to their providers improved the rates of referral for ICD implantation.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION

URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01217827.

Differences and trends in stroke prevention anticoagulation in primary care vs cardiology specialty management of new atrial fibrillation: The Retrospective Evaluation and Assessment of Therapies in AF (TREAT-AF) study

BACKGROUND

Atrial fibrillation and flutter (AF, collectively) cause stroke. We evaluated whether treating specialty influences warfarin prescription in patients with newly diagnosed AF.

METHODS

In the TREAT-AF study, we used Veterans Health Administration health record and claims data to identify patients with newly diagnosed AF between October 2004 and November 2008 and at least 1 internal medicine/primary care or cardiology outpatient encounter within 90 days after diagnosis. The primary outcome was prescription of warfarin.

RESULTS

In 141,642 patients meeting the inclusion criteria, the mean age was 72.3 ± 10.2 years, 1.48% were women, and 25.8% had cardiology outpatient care. Cardiology-treated patients had more comorbidities and higher mean CHADS2 scores (1.8 vs 1.6, P < .0001). Warfarin use was higher in cardiology-treated vs primary care only-treated patients (68.6% vs 48.9%, P < .0001). After covariate and site-level adjustment, cardiology care was significantly associated with warfarin use (odds ratio [OR] 2.05, 95% CI 1.99-2.11). These findings were consistent across a series of adjusted models (OR 2.05-2.20), propensity matching (OR 1.98), and subgroup analyses (OR 1.58-2.11). Warfarin use in primary-care-only patients declined from 2004 to 2008 (51.6%-44.0%, P < .0001), whereas the adjusted odds of warfarin receipt with cardiology care (vs primary care) increased from 2004 to 2008 (1.88-2.24, P < .0001).

CONCLUSION

In patients with newly diagnosed AF, we found large differences in anticoagulation use by treating specialty. A divergent 5-year trend of risk-adjusted warfarin use was observed. Treating specialty influences stroke prevention care and may impact clinical outcomes.

Computer-generated reminders delivered on paper to healthcare professionals; effects on professional practice and health care outcomes

BACKGROUND

Clinical practice does not always reflect best practice and evidence, partly because of unconscious acts of omission, information overload, or inaccessible information. Reminders may help clinicians overcome these problems by prompting the doctor to recall information that they already know or would be expected to know and by providing information or guidance in a more accessible and relevant format, at a particularly appropriate time.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the effects of reminders automatically generated through a computerized system and delivered on paper to healthcare professionals on processes of care (related to healthcare professionals' practice) and outcomes of care (related to patients' health condition).

SEARCH METHODS

For this update the EPOC Trials Search Co-ordinator searched the following databases between June 11-19, 2012: The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) and Cochrane Library (Economics, Methods, and Health Technology Assessment sections), Issue 6, 2012; MEDLINE, OVID (1946- ), Daily Update, and In-process; EMBASE, Ovid (1947- ); CINAHL, EbscoHost (1980- ); EPOC Specialised Register, Reference Manager, and INSPEC, Engineering Village. The authors reviewed reference lists of related reviews and studies. 

SELECTION CRITERIA

We included individual or cluster-randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-randomized controlled trials (NRCTs) that evaluated the impact of computer-generated reminders delivered on paper to healthcare professionals on processes and/or outcomes of care.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Review authors working in pairs independently screened studies for eligibility and abstracted data. We contacted authors to obtain important missing information for studies that were published within the last 10 years. For each study, we extracted the primary outcome when it was defined or calculated the median effect size across all reported outcomes. We then calculated the median absolute improvement and interquartile range (IQR) in process adherence across included studies using the primary outcome or median outcome as representative outcome.

MAIN RESULTS

In the 32 included studies, computer-generated reminders delivered on paper to healthcare professionals achieved moderate improvement in professional practices, with a median improvement of processes of care of 7.0% (IQR: 3.9% to 16.4%). Implementing reminders alone improved care by 11.2% (IQR 6.5% to 19.6%) compared with usual care, while implementing reminders in addition to another intervention improved care by 4.0% only (IQR 3.0% to 6.0%) compared with the other intervention. The quality of evidence for these comparisons was rated as moderate according to the GRADE approach. Two reminder features were associated with larger effect sizes: providing space on the reminder for provider to enter a response (median 13.7% versus 4.3% for no response, P value = 0.01) and providing an explanation of the content or advice on the reminder (median 12.0% versus 4.2% for no explanation, P value = 0.02). Median improvement in processes of care also differed according to the behaviour the reminder targeted: for instance, reminders to vaccinate improved processes of care by 13.1% (IQR 12.2% to 20.7%) compared with other targeted behaviours. In the only study that had sufficient power to detect a clinically significant effect on outcomes of care, reminders were not associated with significant improvements.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

There is moderate quality evidence that computer-generated reminders delivered on paper to healthcare professionals achieve moderate improvement in process of care. Two characteristics emerged as significant predictors of improvement: providing space on the reminder for a response from the clinician and providing an explanation of the reminder's content or advice. The heterogeneity of the reminder interventions included in this review also suggests that reminders can improve care in various settings under various conditions.

Practice patterns in asthma discharge pharmacotherapy in pediatric emergency departments: a pediatric emergency research Canada study

OBJECTIVES

The objective was to examine utilization of β2 agonists via metered dose inhalers with oral and inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) at discharge in children with acute asthma.

METHODS

This was a retrospective medical record review at six pediatric emergency departments (EDs) of otherwise healthy children 2 to 17 years of age discharged with acute asthma. Data were extracted on history, disease severity, and pharmacotherapy used in the ED and at discharge. The primary outcome was the proportion of children prescribed "comprehensive therapy," i.e., albuterol via metered dose inhaler (MDI) with oral and ICS.

RESULTS

The overall rate of comprehensive therapy was 382 of 654 (58%), which varied from 30% to 84% (p < 0.0001). A total of 570 of 575 children discharged on albuterol received MDIs. Although the rates of prescriptions for oral and ICS were both 80%, only 58% of patients without ICS on arrival were offered ICS at discharge. There was significant variation in the rates of all discharge pharmacotherapies across centers. The independent predictors of comprehensive therapy were daytime presentation (odds ratio [OR] = 1.67, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.05 to 2.67) and "intensive stabilization" (OR = 2.33, 95% CI = 1.29 to 2.67). Seventeen patients (2.6%) were prescribed antibiotics. Children were more likely to receive antibiotics if they had moderate to severe exacerbations (OR = 2.8) or received a chest radiograph (OR = 8.4).

CONCLUSIONS

The overwhelming majority of children discharged from Canadian pediatric EDs with acute asthma are prescribed inhaled albuterol via MDIs. Although the corticosteroid use at discharge is higher than previously reported, utilization of new prescriptions for ICS may not be optimal. Children presenting during daytime to EDs receiving intensive stabilization are more likely to receive the albuterol/oral steroid/ICS combination.

Under-prescribing and non-adherence to medications after coronary bypass surgery in older adults: strategies to improve adherence

The focus for this clinical review is under-prescribing and non-adherence to medication guidelines in older adults after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery. Non-adherence occurs in all age groups, but older adults have a unique set of challenges including difficulty hearing, comprehending, and remembering instructions; acquiring and managing multiple medications; and tolerating drug-drug and drug-disease interactions. Still, non-adherence leads to increased morbidity, mortality, and costs to the healthcare system. Factors contributing to non-adherence include failure to initiate therapy before hospital discharge; poor education about the importance of each medication by hospital staff; poor education about medication side effects; polypharmacy; multiple daily dosing; excessive cost; and the physician's lack of knowledge of clinical indicators for use of medications. To improve adherence, healthcare systems must ensure that (i) all patients are prescribed the appropriate medications at discharge; (ii) patients fill and take these medications post-operatively; and (iii) patients continue long-term use of these medications. Interventions must target central administrative policies within healthcare institutions, the difficulties facing providers, as well as the concerns of patients. Corrective efforts need to be started early during the hospitalization and involve practitioners who can follow patients after the date on which surgical care is no longer needed. A solid, ongoing relationship between patients and their primary-care physicians and cardiologists is essential. This review summarizes the post-operative medication guidelines for CABG surgery, describes barriers that limit the adherence to these guidelines, and suggests possible avenues to improve medication adherence in older cardiac surgery patients.

Underdiagnosis of hypertension using electronic health records

BACKGROUND

Hypertension is highly prevalent and contributes to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Appropriate identification of hypertension is fundamental for its management. The rates of appropriate hypertension diagnosis in outpatient settings using an electronic health record (EHR) have not been well studied. We sought to identify prevalent and incident hypertension cases in a large outpatient healthcare system, examine the diagnosis rates of prevalent and incident hypertension, and identify clinical and demographic factors associated with appropriate hypertension diagnosis.

METHODS

We analyzed a 3-year, cross-sectional sample of 251,590 patients aged ≥18 years using patient EHRs. Underlying hypertension was defined as two or more abnormal blood pressure (ABP) readings ≥140/90 mm Hg and/or pharmaceutical treatment. Appropriate hypertension diagnosis was defined by the reporting of ICD-9 codes (401.0-401.9). Factors associated with hypertension diagnosis were assessed through multivariate analyses of patient clinical and demographic characteristics.

RESULTS

The prevalence of hypertension was 28.7%, and the diagnosis rate was 62.9%. The incidence of hypertension was 13.3%, with a diagnosis rate of 19.9%. Predictors of diagnosis for prevalent hypertension included older age, Asian, African American, higher body mass index (BMI), and increased number of ABP readings. Predictors for incident hypertension diagnosis were similar. In patients with two or more ABP readings, hypertension diagnosis was associated with significantly higher medication treatment rates (92.6% vs. 15.8%, P < 0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS

Outpatient EHR diagnosis rates are suboptimal, yet EHR diagnosis of hypertension is strongly associated with treatment. Targeted efforts to improve diagnosis should be a priority.

Computerized clinical decision support systems for drug prescribing and management: a decision-maker-researcher partnership systematic review

Background

Computerized clinical decision support systems (CCDSSs) for drug therapy management are designed to promote safe and effective medication use. Evidence documenting the effectiveness of CCDSSs for improving drug therapy is necessary for informed adoption decisions. The objective of this review was to systematically review randomized controlled trials assessing the effects of CCDSSs for drug therapy management on process of care and patient outcomes. We also sought to identify system and study characteristics that predicted benefit.

Methods

We conducted a decision-maker-researcher partnership systematic review. We updated our earlier reviews (1998, 2005) by searching MEDLINE, EMBASE, EBM Reviews, Inspec, and other databases, and consulting reference lists through January 2010. Authors of 82% of included studies confirmed or supplemented extracted data. We included only randomized controlled trials that evaluated the effect on process of care or patient outcomes of a CCDSS for drug therapy management compared to care provided without a CCDSS. A study was considered to have a positive effect (i.e., CCDSS showed improvement) if at least 50% of the relevant study outcomes were statistically significantly positive.

Results

Sixty-five studies met our inclusion criteria, including 41 new studies since our previous review. Methodological quality was generally high and unchanged with time. CCDSSs improved process of care performance in 37 of the 59 studies assessing this type of outcome (64%, 57% of all studies). Twenty-nine trials assessed patient outcomes, of which six trials (21%, 9% of all trials) reported improvements.

Conclusions

CCDSSs inconsistently improved process of care measures and seldomly improved patient outcomes. Lack of clear patient benefit and lack of data on harms and costs preclude a recommendation to adopt CCDSSs for drug therapy management.

Written action plan in pediatric emergency room improves asthma prescribing, adherence, and control

RATIONALE

An acute-care visit for asthma often signals a management failure. Although a written action plan is effective when combined with self-management education and regular medical review, its independent value remains controversial.

OBJECTIVES

We examined the efficacy of providing a written action plan coupled with a prescription (WAP-P) to improve adherence to medications and other recommendations in a busy emergency department.

METHODS

We randomized 219 children aged 1-17 years to receive WAP-P (n = 109) or unformatted prescription (UP) (n = 110). All received fluticasone and albuterol inhalers, fitted with dose counters, to use at the discretion of the emergency physician. The main outcome was adherence to fluticasone (use/prescribed × 100%) over 28 days. Secondary outcomes included pharmacy dispensation of oral corticosteroids, β(2)-agonist use, medical follow-up, asthma education, acute-care visits, and control.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

Although both groups showed a similar drop in adherence in the initial 14 days, adherence to fluticasone was significantly higher over Days 15-28 in children receiving WAP-P (mean group difference, 16.13% [2.09, 29.91]). More WAP-P than UP patients filled their oral corticosteroid prescription (relative risk, 1.31 [1.07, 1.60]) and were well-controlled at 28 days (1.39 [1.04, 1.86]). Compared with UP, use of WAP-P increased physicians' prescription of maintenance fluticasone (2.47 [1.53, 3.99]) and recommendation for medical follow-up (1.87 [1.48, 2.35]), without group differences in other outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

Provision of a written action plan significantly increased patient adherence to inhaled and oral corticosteroids and asthma control and physicians' recommendation for maintenance fluticasone and medical follow-up, supporting its independent value in the acute-care setting. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT 00381355).

The importance of organizational characteristics for improving outcomes in patients with chronic disease: a systematic review of congestive heart failure

Background

Despite applications of models of care and organizational or system-level interventions to improve patient outcomes for chronic disease, consistent improvements have not been achieved. This may reflect a mismatch between the interventions and the nature of the settings in which they are attempted. The application of complex adaptive systems (CAS) framework to understand clinical systems and inform efforts to improve them may lead to more successful interventions. We performed a systematic review of interventions to improve outcomes of patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) to examine whether interventions consistent with CAS are more likely to be effective. We then examine differences between interventions that are most effective for improving outcomes for patients with CHF versus previously published data for type 2 diabetes to explore the potential impact of the nature of the disease on the types of interventions that are more likely to be effective.

Methods

We conducted a systematic review of the literature between 1998 and 2008 of organizational interventions to improve care of patients with CHF. Two independent reviewers independently assessed studies that met inclusion criteria to determine whether each reported intervention reflected one or more CAS characteristics. The effectiveness of interventions was rated as either 0 (no effect), 0.5 (mixed effect), or 1.0 (effective) based on the type, number, and significance of reported outcomes. Fisher's exact test was used to examine the association between CAS characteristics and intervention effectiveness. Specific CAS characteristics associated with intervention effectiveness for CHF were contrasted with previously published data for type 2 diabetes.

Results and discussion

Forty-four studies describing 46 interventions met eligibility criteria. All interventions utilized at least one CAS characteristic, and 85% were either 'mixed effect' or 'effective' in terms of outcomes. The number of CAS characteristics present in each intervention was associated with effectiveness (p < 0.001), supporting the idea that interventions consistent with CAS are more likely to be effective. The individual CAS characteristics associated with CHF intervention effectiveness were learning, self-organization, and co-evolution, a finding different from our previously published analysis of interventions for diabetes. We suggest this difference may be related to the degree of uncertainty involved in caring for patients with diabetes versus CHF.

Conclusion

These results suggest that for interventions to be effective, they must be consistent with the CAS nature of clinical systems. The difference in specific CAS characteristics associated with intervention effectiveness for CHF and diabetes suggests that interventions must also take into account attributes of the disease.

Divergent trends in survival and readmission following a hospitalization for heart failure in the Veterans Affairs health care system 2002 to 2006

OBJECTIVES

This study sought to determine recent trends over time in heart failure hospitalization, patient characteristics, treatment, rehospitalization, and mortality within the Veterans Affairs health care system.

BACKGROUND

Use of recommended therapies for heart failure has increased in the U.S. However, it is unclear to what extent hospitalization rates and the associated mortality have improved.

METHODS

We compared rates of hospitalization for heart failure, 30-day rehospitalization for heart failure, and 30-day mortality following discharge from 2002 to 2006 in the Veterans Affairs Health Care System. Odds ratios for outcome were adjusted for patient diagnoses within the past year, laboratory data, and for clustering of patients within hospitals.

RESULTS

We identified 50,125 patients with a first hospitalization for heart failure from 2002 to 2006. Mean age did not change (70 years), but increases were noted for most comorbidities (mean Charlson score increased from 1.72 to 1.89, p < 0.0001). Heart failure admission rates remained constant at about 5 per 1,000 veterans. Mortality at 30 days decreased (7.1% to 5.0%, p < 0.0001), whereas rehospitalization for heart failure at 30 days increased (5.6% to 6.1%, p = 0.11). After adjustment for patient characteristics, the odds ratio for rehospitalization in 2006 (vs. 2002) was 0.54 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.47 to 0.61) for mortality, but 1.21 (95% CI: 1.04 to 1.41) for heart failure rehospitalization at 30 days.

CONCLUSIONS

Recent mortality and rehospitalization rates in the Veterans Affairs Health Care System have trended in opposite directions. These results have implications for using rehospitalization as a measure of quality of care.

Using health information technology to improve hypertension management

High-quality medical care requires implementing evidence-based best practices, with continued monitoring to improve performance. Implementation science is beginning to identify approaches to developing, implementing, and evaluating quality improvement strategies across health care systems that lead to good outcomes for patients. Health information technology has much to contribute to quality improvement for hypertension, particularly as part of multidimensional strategies for improved care. Clinical reminders closely aligned with organizational commitment to quality improvement may be one component of a successful strategy for improving blood pressure control. The ATHENA-Hypertension (Assessment and Treatment of Hypertension: Evidence-based Automation) system is an example of more complex clinical decision support. It is feasible to implement and deploy innovative health information technologies for clinical decision support with features such as clinical data visualizations and evidence to support specific recommendations. Further study is needed to determine the optimal contexts for such systems and their impact on patient outcomes.