Performance on Hospitals on PCI Process Measures and Correlation With 30-Day Readmissions

Introduction: The National Quality Forum has endorsed the metric of 30-day risk-standardized readmissions rates (RSRR) following PCI as a measure of hospital quality. It is not known whether hospital performance on this publicly reported metric correlates with existing PCI process measures. This information could help hospitals decide on where to focus their quality improvement efforts. Methods: Using data from the NCDR CathPCI Registry from 2010-2011 linked with Medicare administrative claims data, we calculated hospital performance on existing PCI process measures (aspirin, thienopyridines, and statins upon discharge; door-to-balloon time under ninety minutes; referral to cardiac rehabilitation; and an overall composite measure). We calculated hospitals’ 30-day RSRRs using hierarchical models as specified in the NQF-approved measure. We then analyzed the association between hospital performance on process measures and 30-day RSRRs. We subsequently calculated the explained variance of the process metrics...