Continuous quality improvement and the acute myocardial infarction patient.

Optimal outcomes for the AMI patient can be achieved by national and local healthcare organizations working together for quality care (see Figure). The JCAHO has provided hospitals with the 10-step process to guide quality improvement through a multidisciplinary, collaborative approach for planning and evaluating care. The ACC and AHA have established national standards for AMI care that can be used as guidelines for writing individual hospital AMI standards. The National AMI Registry Report provides current care statistics to participating hospitals. Hospitals can use the CQI dynamics to process the statistics to ensure that standards are met, ultimately facilitating clinical excellence along with cost-effective healthcare for patients with AMI. When caregivers take action to improve patient care based on these statistics, the time spent on data collection and evaluation will finally be worthwhile.