Achievement of Guideline-Concordant Care and In-Hospital Outcomes in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease in Teaching and Nonteaching Hospitals: Results From the Get With The Guidelines–Coronary Artery Disease Program

Background— Secondary prevention therapies improve longitudinal outcomes in patients with coronary artery disease. Previous studies showed that teaching hospitals (THs) more consistently use evidence-based secondary prevention therapies than non-THs (NTHs). It is unclear whether these differences persist after initiation of a national quality improvement system. Methods and Results— We analyzed 270902 patients across 361 hospitals in the Get With The Guidelines–Coronary Artery Disease program from June 2000 to September 2009. The primary outcome was guideline-concordant care, defined as compliance with all Get With The Guidelines–Coronary Artery Disease quality measures: (1) aspirin within 24 hours, (2) aspirin at discharge, (3) angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blockers for systolic dysfunction, (4) &bgr;-blockers at discharge, (5) lipid therapy if low-density lipoprotein >100 mg/dL, and (6) smoking cessation. We used multivariate modeling to compare the relationship between TH and NTH status on quality measures, in-hospital mortality, and length of stay. Guideline-concordant care was higher at THs (78.4% versus 73.3%; P<0.01). The adjusted odds ratio between 2000 and 2009 for guideline-concordant care at THs compared with NTHs was 2.78 (confidence interval, 1.28–6.06; P=0.01). Guideline-concordant care increased from 2000 to 2009 at THs (n=176; 65.3%→88.3%; adjusted odds ratio for year increase, 1.24 [confidence interval, 1.16–1.30; P<0.01]) and NTHs (n=185; 61.0%→93.9%; adjusted odds ratio for year increase, 1.35 [confidence interval, 1.26–1.45]; P<0.01). THs had shorter length of stay (adjusted odds ratio, 0.74 for length of stay >4 days; confidence interval, 0.58–0.94) from 2000 to 2009. Lower in-hospital mortality was observed at THs (3.7% versus 4.4% at NTHs; P<0.01), but this was not significant after adjustment. Conclusions— Adherence to guideline-recommended therapies increased over time with participation in the Get With The Guidelines–Coronary Artery Disease program, regardless of the teaching status. Guideline-concordant care over the full decade was higher in THs; however, NTHs demonstrated greater incremental improvement over time.