Despite remarkable improvement in many quality indicators for acute myocardial infarction [1, 2], national performance in hospital door-to-balloon (D2B) times (i.e., time between hospital arrival and angioplasty balloon inflation) for patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) lags. As of 2005, less than half of U.S. hospitals had median D2B times of 90 minutes or less [3], the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guideline for treatment of patients with STEMI. Previous studies of hospitals that consistently meet this guideline reveal several organizational strategies that are associated with faster D2B times [4–16]. In our investigation of hospital practices in 2005 [3], only a minority of hospitals reported using these time-saving strategies, but more contemporary information is not available in the medical literature.

Having contemporary data on the prevalence of these strategies is important for identifying the degree to which greater efforts in improvement are needed in this area. If most hospitals have adopted the strategies identified in 2005 [3] as important, then further initiatives such as the D2B Alliance [17] – a quality improvement effort of more than 900 hospitals committed to implementing a set of evidence-based strategies for reducing D2B time – and other national collaborative efforts may be less important. In contrast, if the prevalence of the strategies remains modest, it is essential to support continued efforts to improve organizational practices in this area.

To provide the most contemporary data on hospital strategies available, we used a baseline cross-sectional survey of hospitals completed at the time of their initial enrollment (November 2006–June 2007) with the D2B Alliance. In this report, we present data on the prevalence of these strategies and identify key hospital characteristics associated with their use.

We found that implementation of recommended strategies at the time of enrollment in the D2B Alliance (late 2006 through mid-2007) was limited for many enrolled hospitals, suggesting ample opportunity for improvement among these hospitals. For instance, emergency medicine physician activation of the catheterization laboratory and prompt data feedback about D2B times were being implemented by just about half of hospitals, and a single-call system of activation or use of pre-hospital electrocardiograms while the patient is en route to the hospitals were used by less than one third of hospitals. Given the strong evidence of the impact of these strategies on D2B times and the persistent underutilization of effective strategies, there remains tremendous opportunity to improve quality of care and reduce mortality for patients with STEMI.

The study underscores the need for quality improvement initiatives and the potential impact of the D2B Alliance. Although a previous study demonstrated that many hospitals were not implementing these strategies in 2005, it was not known if there had been substantial adoption since that time. Our study indicates that even among hospitals that were committed to reducing D2B times by joining the D2B Alliance, the prevalence of some key strategies was modest, as recently as early 2007. Future evaluation of the D2B Alliance experience will be necessary to demonstrate if such a collaborative effort can facilitate adoption of these key strategies to reduce D2B times.

The less commonly implemented strategies reflect particular challenges. Single-call systems are difficult without a unified on-call list for interventional cardiologists, an innovation that requires strong commitment and collaboration across potentially competitive clinical groups. Similarly, building the necessary systems of care to coordinate Emergency Medical Services and hospitals so that catheterization laboratories can be activated before the patient arrives at the hospital may require capital equipment, training of emergency medical personnel, and collaboration across service providers not under the control of the hospital. Nevertheless, recent studies have shown that such systems of care with Emergency Medical Services are feasible and effective [12, 18, 19], suggesting this approach could be a powerful intervention to improve STEMI care.

Importantly, traditional hospital characteristics, such as hospital size and teaching status, are not strongly correlated with reported approaches to reducing D2B time. Rather, hospitals that have been successful in reducing D2B time substantially demonstrate a clear organization-wide goal to reduce D2B time, strong administrative support for improvement efforts, uncompromising clinical leadership to promote improvement, and effective collaboration among departments and disciplines [4]. These data suggest that improvements in D2B time are possible in a variety of types of hospitals regardless of size and teaching status, although organizational commitment and both clinical and administrative leadership are central to effecting needed changes.

Although this study provides the most current data on the implementation of recommended strategies for reducing D2B time, the data should be interpreted in light of their limitations. First, the data are self-reported, although we used an instrument that had been pre-tested and used in previous studies of this nature. Furthermore, we anticipate that self-reporting might bias the prevalence data upwards so that our reported findings may actually overestimate the true use of these strategies. Second, surveys were completed by a single respondent, although researchers were clear with respondents that they should consult with other hospital staff as necessary before reporting the existing processes in place at the hospital. The issue of documenting organizational practices is complex; however our approach was designed to reflect the combined views of key staff involved with treating patients with STEMI. Nevertheless, to the degree respondents knew what was recommended, this limitation may bias the prevalence upwards so that our findings may, again, overestimate the true use of these strategies. Third, although the sample is large and the response rate is high, especially for organizational studies of this type, the data reflect D2B Alliance hospitals rather than a random sample of hospitals that perform PCI. Experience in hospitals that did not choose to enroll in the D2B Alliance may be different. Finally, our study did not examine hospital strategies that might be linked to faster door-to-needle times, as it was beyond the scope of the study.

In conclusion, this study establishes that key strategies associated with more rapid D2B times are underutilized across the country. Although many hospitals use some of these key strategies, few have adopted them all. Approaches to speeding adoption are varied; participation in inter-organizational learning efforts, such as the D2B Alliance, may be effective in promoting the efficient diffusion of such strategies. However, evaluation of its effectiveness awaits the completion of ongoing and future studies. Our findings highlight the opportunity to improve care and provide baseline data so that the effect of the D2B Alliance can be rigorously evaluated in the future.