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MI registry shows poorer outcomes in COVID-19 cases

The composite rate of inpatient death, stroke, recurrent myocardial infarction or repeat unplanned revascularization among patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction was 36% for patients with COVID-19, compared with 13% for patients without COVID-19 and 5% for those in a control group, according to data from the North American Cardiovascular COVID-19 Myocardial Infarction Registry, which includes the American College of Cardiology Interventional Council, the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions and the Canadian Association of Interventional Cardiology. The study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, found the composite outcome was driven by very high in-hospital mortality rates for patients with COVID-19. Medscape (free registration) (4/20) Learn More

Study: HF readmissions increase despite HRRP

Hospital readmission rates for heart failure at 90 days increased from 14.8% in 2010 to 16% in 2017 even though the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program was implemented in late 2012, researchers reported in the journal Circulation: Heart Failure. Readmission rates at 90 days for any cause increased from 30.9% to 34.6% during the same time period. Healio (free registration) (4/20) Learn More

Sepsis protocol leads to little change in outcomes

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center data showed risk-adjusted mortality, successful discharge and ICU admissions were only slightly different after adhering to the federally required SEP-1 treatment protocol for sepsis, compared with what would have been expected without the mandate. The study, reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found that throughout the 11-hospital system, ICU admission was 22.4% after the protocols were implemented, compared with a 20.4% expected rate. MedPage Today (free registration) (4/19) Learn More

Fowler plans to refresh CMMI's value-based care strategy

Liz Fowler, the new director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, said the agency's commitment to value-based care remains strong and it won't pull back on development of new alternative payment models amid the recent withdrawal or delay of several payment models. Speaking at a conference of the National Association of ACOs, Fowler said she plans to refresh the CMMI's value-based care strategy by focusing on health equity, improving multipayer alignment, and expanding the agency's reach beyond Medicaid and Medicare. FierceHealthcare (4/20) Learn More

HRSA awards nearly $13M to improve rural health care

Sixty-one organizations in 35 states received almost $13 million from HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration as part of its Rural Health Care Services Outreach Program effort to support "innovative and evidence-based approaches tailored to the specific needs of local communities." Acting HRSA Administrator Diana Espinosa said the program aims to "improve the health of the nation's underserved and vulnerable rural populations and expand access to comprehensive, culturally competent, quality primary health care services." mHealth Intelligence (4/21) Learn More

EHR improvement team boosts physician experience

A 10-member multidisciplinary team of health information and informatics specialists that collected and prioritized EHR optimization requests was able to get some problems fixed immediately through additional training. The team was able to get other problems solved quickly by updating order sets, adding documentation templates and creating autotext, and a majority of clinicians said the team improved their EHR proficiency. EHR Intelligence (4/20) Learn More

Cardiovascular Quality and Research News

ACC CV Quality SmartBrief