More patients get PCI within guideline recommended time in states with hospital bypass policies
TUESDAY, May 1, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Adoption of policies allowing emergency medical services (EMS) to bypass non-percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) capable hospitals for patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is associated with increased receipt of timely PCI, according to a study published online May 1 in Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions.
Jacqueline L. Green, M.D., M.P.H., from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and colleagues used data from six states with bypass policies (Delaware, Iowa, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts) matched to six states without bypass policies (South Carolina, Minnesota, Virginia, Texas, New York, and Connecticut) to examine receipt of reperfusion and receipt of timely PCI. Data were included for 19,287 patients at 379 sites across the 12 states.
The researchers found that patients from states with and without hospital destination policies were similar in age, gender, and comorbidities. Overall, 57.9 and 47.5 percent of patients, respectively, from states with hospital destination policies and states without hospital destination policies received primary PCI within their relevant guideline recommended time from first medical contact, after adjustment for patient- and state-level characteristics.
“Statewide adoption of STEMI hospital destination policies allowing EMS to bypass non-PCI capable facilities is associated with significantly faster treatment times for patients with STEMI,” the authors write.
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