CARDIOLOGY: Higher volume linked to better outcomes

We demonstrate through a large regional database a positive relationship between volume and outcomes in interventional cardiovascular care.”

The volume-outcome relationship in health care has been studied quite a bit over the years – particularly related to various surgical specialties.  It is intuitively pleasing to think that if a surgeon, if a surgical team, if a hospital has a higher volume of … whatever… there will be better outcomes than providers who only see patients of this type now and then.  This study confirms this relationship for heart attack patients who were treated in the interventional cath lab.

The study analyzed outcomes data for 9,360 patients in the Dallas metro area who received care from 2010 to 2015.  Interestingly, for these patients who were diagnosed as having the most severe type of heart attack, 59 percent of patients arrived at the hospital either by themselves or transported by a family member; 39 percent arrived by ambulance.

Mortality in the facilities classified as low volume (less than 200 percutaneous coronary intervention procedures per year) was 9.55 percent.  Mortality in the intermediate and high volume facilities was almost identical – at 6.25 and 6.22 percent, respectively.

Source: Langabeer, J.R., Kim, J., and Helton, J. (2017, July-September). Exploring the relationship between volume and outcomes in hospital cardiovascular care. Quality Management in Health Care, 26(3), 160-164.  Click here for publisher’s website http://journals.lww.com/qmhcjournal/pages/articleviewer.aspx?year=2017&issue=07000&article=00006&type=Abstract    Posted by AHA Resource Center (312) 422-2050, rc@aha.org