ACE Inhibitor or ARB Prescribed on Discharge from the Hospital
Why is this important?
An ACE Inhibitor (angiotensin-converting enzyme) or ARB (angiotensin receptor blocker) are types of medicine used to treat heart attacks, heart failure and problems associated with the left side of the heart. The drug works by stopping the production of a hormone that narrows blood vessels. If taken within 24 hours of experiencing heart attack symptoms, ACE Inhibitors or ARBs can help to reduce the risk of death. Continuing to take ACE Inhibitors or ARBs may help to prevent heart failure. Most heart attack survivors should receive a prescription for an ACE Inhibitor or ARB before leaving the hospital.
How WellSpan Compares
Last year, York Hospital and Gettysburg Hospital treated 750 patients with heart attack. The following shows the percentage of patients (for whom ACE Inhibitors or ARBs were appropriate) who were given a prescription for ACE Inhibitors or ARBs upon discharge from the hospital.
Not every heart attack patient should receive an ACE Inhibitor or ARB. In fact, WellSpan uses a set of standard criteria to determine whether or not patients should be given an ACE Inhibitor or ARB. Occasionally, a physician will determine that a patient who meets the criteria still should not receive an ACE Inhibitor or ARB, based on the patient’s individual condition. The data below do not reflect these situations.
Unit of Measurement:
Percentage
A higher score is better than a lower score.
What we are doing to improve our performance.
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A team of WellSpan physicians, nurses and other care givers, known as the “Heart Attack Clinical Effectiveness Team,” meets regularly to review important information and strategies for improving care for heart attack patients. So far, this team has revised and standardized forms that doctors and nurses use and the procedures they follow to make sure that everyone who should receive an ACE Inhibitor (angiotensin-converting enzyme)/ARB (angiotension receptor blocker) does receive a prescription for an ACE Inhibitor when they discharged from the hospital. They also have developed important patient education material and continuously analyze how they provide care to heart attack patients. WellSpan will continue to monitor the success of these changes and recommend other improvement steps as follows:
- Implementation of standardized forms which list essential medications and check boxes to indicate why medications were not administered/ordered.
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