title: Door-to-balloon time: performance improvement in the multidisciplinary treatment of myocardial infarction.
abstract: The treatment of ST-elevation myocardial infarction with primary percutaneous coronary intervention is a time-sensitive process, with outcomes correlated with the speed with which the healthcare team can make the diagnosis, start preliminary treatment, and successfully perform the intervention. This requires multidisciplinary teamwork involving Emergency Medical Services, Emergency Medicine and Nursing, the cardiac catheterization laboratory team, and interventional cardiology. The success of effectively delivering treatment is enhanced through focused analysis of key steps within the care process to identify systems problems and implement quality improvement initiatives. This article reviews the process whereby our institution achieved top decile performance in this multidisciplinary treatment.
authors.affiliation: Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, MA, USA. mark.peterman@bhs.org
authors.forename: J Mark
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Peterman
authors.forename: Soren
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bisgaard
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization; D004562:Electrocardiography; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome