North Oaks Health System

Hospital readmissions have been a long-standing problem in the American health care system. Despite many efforts, programs, papers, and interventions identified and studied, 14% of all adult admissions result in a readmission. Readmissions are mostly considered preventable and are considered an indicator of care quality for a hospital. Due to unexpected readmissions, patients are at an increased risk for illness or injury, increased stress, financial strain, and diminished quality of life. Readmissions also negatively impact hospital systems related to decreased bed availability, stretched resources, and potential financial penalties and payment reductions. Patients with an admission related to heart failure are at an increased risk of readmission, with a national readmission rate of 23%. The quality improvement project was implemented on two telemetry units at an acute care hospital. A gap analysis identified procedural and organizational reasons for readmission in the heart failure population at an acute care hospital. Using evidence-based best practice guidelines established by the American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, and the Heart Failure Society of America, a four-pronged proactive discharge bundle was implemented using the plan-do-study-act framework for continuous improvement. All patients admitted to the telemetry units with a primary or secondary diagnosis of heart failure received the discharge planning bundle: (1) an early assessment by the case management department, (2) patient-centered specialty heart failure education, (3) predischarge medication delivery, and (4) predischarge physician follow-up appointment scheduling within 7days of discharge. A total of 133 patients were evaluated for inclusion in the heart failure cohort. Of those, 52 patients received the evidence-based intervention. The evidence-based project was implemented over 7weeks, September through October of 2023 on the medical telemetry units. Of the 52 patients receiving the evidence-based sample, two of the patients experienced a readmission due to heart failure (3.85%). Incidentally, it was found that patients without a readmission had an average of 2.3 completed interventions, while those with readmissions had an average of 1.5 interventions. Case managers are an integral part of the care transition from the acute care setting back to the community. Often, it is the case manager leading this effort through various interventions. Findings from this quality improvement project suggest the use of the evidence-based, four-pronged approach to discharge planning for the heart failure patient population reduced the risk and rate of heart failure-related readmissions for the involved nursing units. These findings also surmise that there is a correlation between the number of interventions and the rate of readmission.

Background: The long-term outcomes of chronic total occlusion (CTO) percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) in patients with prior coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) have received limited study. Methods: We examined the baseline characteristics and outcomes of CTO PCIs performed at 47 US and non-US centers between 2012 and 2023. Results: Of the 12,164 patients who underwent CTO PCI during the study period, 3,475 (29%) had prior CABG. Prior CABG patients were older, more likely to be men, with higher incidence of comorbidities and lower left ventricular ejection fraction and eGFR. Their CTOs were more likely to have moderate/severe calcification and proximal tortuosity, proximal cap ambiguity, longer lesion length and higher J-CTO scores. The first and final successful crossing strategy was more likely to be the retrograde approach. They had lower technical (82.1% vs 88.2%, p<0.001) and procedural (80.8% vs 86.8%, p<0.001) success, but similar incidence of in-hospital major complications. The incidence of in-hospital death (0.8% vs 0.3%, p<0.001), acute myocardial infarction (0.9% vs 0.5%, p=0.007) and perforation (7.0% vs 4.2%, p<0.001) was higher in prior CABG patients, while pericardial tamponade was less common (0.1% vs 1.3%, p<0.001). At 2-year follow-up, the incidence of major adverse cardiac events, repeat PCI and acute coronary syndromes was significantly higher in prior CABG patients, while all-cause mortality was similar. Conclusions: Prior CABG patients undergoing CTO PCI have more complex clinical and angiographic characteristics and lower success rate, but similar incidence of in-hospital major complications, and had higher incidence of MACE but similar all-cause mortality during long-term follow-up. Abbreviations: eGFR= estimated glomerular filtration rate

The impact of preprocedural anemia on the outcomes of chronic total occlusion (CTO) percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has received limited study. We examined the clinical and angiographic characteristics and procedural outcomes of 8633 CTO PCIs performed at 39 US and non-US centers between 2012 and 2023. Anemia was defined as a hemoglobin level of <13 g/dL in men and <12 g/dL in women. Anemia was present in 1652 (19%) patients undergoing CTO PCI. Anemic patients had a higher incidence of comorbidities, such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia, heart failure, cerebrovascular disease, and peripheral arterial disease. CTOs in anemic patients were more likely to have complex angiographic characteristics, including smaller diameter, longer length, moderate to severe calcification, and moderate to severe proximal tortuosity. Anemic patients required longer procedure (119 vs. 107 min; p < 0.001) and fluoroscopy (45 vs. 40 min; p < 0.001) times but received similar contrast volumes. Technical success was similar between the two groups. In-hospital major adverse cardiac events (MACE) rates were higher in patients with anemia; however, this association was no longer significant after adjusting for confounding factors. Baseline anemia was independently associated with follow-up MACE (adjusted hazard ratio [HR]: 1.63; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.07-2.49; p = 0.023) and all-cause mortality (adjusted HR: 3.03; 95% CI: 1.41-6.49; p = 0.004). Preprocedural anemia is associated with more comorbidities, higher lesion complexity, longer procedure times, and higher follow-up MACE and mortality after CTO PCI.

There is limited data on the impact of a second attending operator on chronic total occlusion (CTO) percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) outcomes. We analyzed the association between multiple operators (MOs) (>1 attending operator)and procedural outcomes of 9296 CTO PCIs performed between 2012 and 2021 at 37 centers. CTO PCI was performed by a single operator (SO) in 85% of the cases and by MOs in 15%. Mean patient age was 64.4 ± 10 years and 81% were men. SO cases were more complex with higher Japan-CTO (2.38 ± 1.29 vs. 2.28 ± 1.20, p = 0.005) and Prospective Global Registry for the Study of Chronic Total Occlusion Interventionscores (1.13 ± 1.01 vs. 0.97 ± 0.93, p < 0.001) compared with MO cases. Procedural time (131 [87, 181] vs. 112 [72, 167] min, p < 0.001), fluoroscopy time (49 [31, 76] vs. 42 [25, 68] min, p < 0.001), air kerma radiation dose (2.32 vs. 2.10, p < 0.001), and contrast volume (230 vs. 210, p < 0.001) were higher in MO cases. Cases performed by MOs and SO had similar technical (86% vs. 86%, p = 0.9) and procedural success rates (84% vs. 85%, p = 0.7), as well as major adverse complication event rates (MACE 2.17% vs. 2.42%, p = 0.6). On multivariable analyses,MOs were not associated with higher technical success or lower MACE rates. In a contemporary, multicenter registry, 15% of CTO PCI cases were performed by multiple operators. Despite being more complex, SO cases had lower procedural and fluoroscopy times, and similar technical and procedural success and risk of complications compared with MO cases.