Multisite, quality‐improvement collaboration to optimise cardiac care in Queensland public hospitals

Objective: To evaluate changes in quality of in‐hospital care of patients with either acute coronary syndromes (ACS) or congestive heart failure (CHF) admitted to hospitals participating in a multisite quality improvement collaboration. Design: Before‐and‐after study of changes in quality indicators measured on representative patient samples between June 2001 and January 2003. Setting: Nine public hospitals in Queensland. Study populations: Consecutive or randomly selected patients admitted to study hospitals during the baseline period (June 2001 to January 2002; n = 807 for ACS, n = 357 for CHF) and post‐intervention period (July 2002 to January 2003; n = 717 for ACS, n = 220 for CHF). Intervention: Provision of comparative baseline feedback at a facilitative workshop combined with hospital‐specific quality‐improvement interventions supported by on‐site quality officers and a central program management group. Main outcome measure: Changes in process‐of‐care indicators between baseline and post‐intervention periods. Results: Compared with baseline, more patients with ACS in the post‐intervention period received therapeutic heparin regimens (84% v 72%; P