Emergency Department Delays for Patients Transferred for PCI

Patients who present with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) to hospitals without percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) capability usually do not undergo PCI within the 90-minute recommended time. A prior study showed that a door-in to door-out (DIDO) time (time from emergency department arrival to departure to a PCI-capable hospital) greater than the recommended 30 minutes is associated with a 56% increase in risk for in-hospital mortality (JW Emerg Med Jul 22 2011).

Using data reported to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), researchers analyzed DIDO times for 13,776 adult patients with STEMI who were transferred for PCI from 1034 hospitals that each reported five or more transfers during 2009. Median DI…