Acute Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack) Care

Care for myocardial infarction patients includes delivering care that decreases damage to the heart. This includes timely medications and treatments on arrival and at discharge, as well as smoking-cessation counseling for smokers.

Acute Myocardial Infarction Care Composite

What does this mean?

We measure the percent of patients eligible for each of the care elements who actually received the care element. The composite score is the average over 12 months. We have been at a high performance level for several years. Our biggest challenge comes from failure to fully document the reasons why some patients may not receive a particular medication (e.g., due to medication allergy). Although the appropriate care is delivered, the documentation is incomplete. Our goal is to achieve 100% compliance.

What are we doing to improve?

Through our system collaborative work groups, we have shared best practices. We are currently implementing electronic health record solutions to ensure complete documentation consistently.

Additional Information

Additional reports and data can be found on the CMS Hospital Compare site at www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov.