• H Gilutz, A Battler, I Rabinowitz, Y Snir, A Porath, and G Rabinowitz.
• Cardiology Department, Soroka Medical Center, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel. gilutz@bgumail@bgu.ac.il
• Jt Comm J Qual Improv. 1998 Jun 1; 24 (6): 323-33.

BackgroundA continuous quality improvement (CQI) project was conducted at Soroka Medical Center in Beer-Sheva, Israel, in an effort to identify and address causes of delays in thrombolytic therapy in patients arriving at a high-volume (160,000 patients per year) emergency department with acute myocardial infarction and thereby reduce the "door-to-needle time" (DTNT). The study had four phases: preintervention survey, peri-intervention process redesign, postintervention evaluation, and follow-up evaluation. CQI TEAM: The CQI team followed a seven-step protocol: problem definition, present-state screening, factors analysis, solution development, outcome evaluation, standardization, and conclusions.ResultsA DTNT of 45 minutes was considered acceptable for this data set, and accordingly, patients were divided into an "early" group (n = 50, DTNT < 45 minutes), and a "late" group (n = 50, DTNT > or = 45 minutes). After the CQI intervention, the mean DTNT decreased from 61.8 +/- 32.5 (mean +/- standard deviation) to 47.6 +/- 18.5 minutes (p < 0.029). The prolonged DTNT time intervals of the late versus the early groups was primarily due to extended decision-making time (36.0 +/- 22.7 versus 13.6 +/- 6.7 minutes, p < 0.003), followed by time until therapy was initiated (26.2 +/- 14.2 versus 11.1 +/- 5.8 minutes, p < 0.002).ConclusionsResults suggest that the 30-minute DTNT suggested by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association is appropriate for patients with a clear diagnosis and no contraindications for thrombolysis, but when the risk-benefit ratio of thrombolytic therapy raises concerns, a 45- to 60-minute DTNT may still be acceptable. Further CQI projects should address technical triage of simple cases and clinical estimation of risk-benefit ratio in complicated patients.

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