North Carolina's Program to Regionalize STEMI Care Is Not Beneficial

Patient outcomes did not differ at participating and nonparticipating hospitals.

Regionalization of trauma care, in which patients are diverted to qualified trauma centers, improves outcomes. The American Heart Association and other groups have advocated similar regionalization of care for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). The Reperfusion of Acute Myocardial Infarction in North Carolina Emergency Departments (RACE) initiative was one of the earliest and most robust programs. Investigators analyzed a statewide hospital discharge database from 2005 to 2007 (spanning the year before and year after implementation of the program) to determine whether patient outcomes were better in RACE-participating hospitals than nonparticipating hospitals. The investigators also analyzed Medicare claims data to determine…

Reviewing Author

Daniel J. Pallin, MD, MPH

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardPortola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Speaker’s BureauPeerView Institute for Medical Education

Grant/Research SupportAgency for Healthcare Research and Quality; CDC; NIH–National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences; NIH–National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID); NIH–NIAID–Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group; Merck; Pfizer; Boehringer-Ingelheim; Shire; Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Novartis; bioMérieux; Siemens; Rapid Pathogen Screening; Magnolia; Stago; Innovative Biosensors; Molecular Detection, Inc.; Dyax Corp.; Trius Pharmaceuticals

Daniel J. Pallin, MD, MPH

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardPortola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Speaker’s BureauPeerView Institute for Medical Education