Identifying Evidence-Based Approaches to Reducing Mortality for Patients Hospitalized with Heart Attack
Award Amount:
$203,185
Approval Date:
July 14, 2009
Start Date:
August 1, 2009
End Date:
July 31, 2011
Yale University
Yale School of Medicine
60 College St. Room 300A
New Haven, Connecticut 06511
Principal Investigator:
Elizabeth H. Bradley, Ph.D., and Harlan M. Krumholz, M.D., S.M.
Despite a decade of efforts aimed at improving care for heart attack patients, a twofold difference in hospital mortality rates persists between the highest- and lowest-performing institutions. Very little is known about what distinguishes hospitals that have low mortality rates. This project will contribute to a larger three-year initiative funded in part by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the United Health Foundation to test ways in which hospitals can reduce deaths from heart attack. The investigators will visit selected hospitals and interview hospital personnel to guide the development of a survey of 350 randomly selected hospitals, the findings of which will be used to determine the hospital structures, processes, and features that are associated with exceptional outcomes.