Quality of care in percutaneous coronary intervention

The assessment of quality is gaining more importance as physicians and hospitals are expected to adhere to standards of quality care. Cardiovascular procedures, such as percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), lend themselves to quality assessment because they are easily captured through administrative data and have readily measured outcomes. The three components of quality - structure, process, and outcomes - all have specific elements when applied to PCI. Each element has advantages and disadvantages, but many have been embraced by quality assurance efforts at the state, regional, and national level. Multicenter PCI registries and Internet-based rankings of PCI providers allow continuous quality assessment. Improvements in technology, such as the coronary stent, have led to wider application of PCI, with increased rates of procedural success and low rates of complications. The establishment of standard definitions and measurements, national collaboration through the American College of Cardiology National Cardiovascular Disease Registry, and the growth of electronic data storage nsure that quality measurement will assume an increasingly important role in the practice of PCI. ©2002 CVRR, Inc.

Duke Scholars

Author Sunil Vadlakonda Rao Medicine, Cardiology

Author James Gerard Jollis Medicine, Cardiology