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Heart Attack Care Quality Measures -
Patients Given Beta Blocker at Arrival
A heart attack may also be called an acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and is a life-threatening event that is caused when the arteries leading to the heart become blocked and the blood supply is slowed or stopped. This keeps much-needed oxygen from reaching the heart muscle. When a heart attack occurs, immediately taking aspirin and other medical treatments can reduce damage to the heart and even save a life. The quality measures in this section show some of the medically accepted standards for the care of AMI, as well as whether patients leave the hospital with medications and instructions known to be helpful after a heart attack.
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Click here to view the heart attack care quality measures for the CHRISTUS Health system as a whole.
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Click here to view quality measures by facility.
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Click here for more information about heart attack care.
Percent of Patients Given Beta Blocker at Arrival
This percentage addresses the ratio of heart attack patients who received beta blockers within 24 hours of arrival at the hospital. Beta blockers are a type of medicine that slow the rate and force of heartbeats by weakening nerve impulses sent to the heart and blood vessels. This lowers blood pressure and reduces stress on the heart. Beta blockers are used to lower blood pressure and treat chest pain (angina) and heart failure. Early use of beta blockers lowers the risk of heart attacks.
The data used to compute the indicator percentage for the system overall and each individual facility was collected from January 2009 to March 2009.
