Beyond Compliance - How CPR training improves the standard of care

Hospital leaders face a seemingly unattainable goal:  creating an integrated approach to patient care, quality benchmarking and training, while simultaneously eliminating disparities in care, and improving physician performance and patient outcomes. The American Heart Association^® is here to help hospitals reach that goal. 

We strive to be a connective force within America’s disjointed healthcare system.  The Association’s strength lies in nearly 100 years of credibility in science, quality and resuscitation excellence:

• Hospital quality programs such as Get With The Guidelines^® uses our up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines to give hospitals benchmarks to ensure that care is standardized and delivered consistently, improving care for patients.  
• Training excellence through our combined offerings from the Resuscitation Quality Improvement^® (RQI) and HeartCode^® portfolio as well as online or instructor-led emergency care courses provides state-of-the-art education for caregivers.
• Developing solutions for unmet needs means that we are working to fill the gaps of data consistency and transparency between 911 dispatchers, emergency medical services and the emergency room to help the system of care be more efficient and effective – as well as to reduce vulnerability due to errors.  

Creating a world where no one dies from cardiac arrest means that we must look together at a deeply integrated solution to create change. 

In this case, we look to resuscitation – specifically, resuscitation following in-hospital cardiac arrest.  As the worldwide leader in resuscitation science and training, we have evidence-based data collection methods in our Get With The Guidelines system that can help hospitals measure processes and guideline adherence.  

So often the driving force for CPR training is to meet employment requirements.  What if your hospital implemented training and practice to improve patient outcomes and survival rates, measuring against competency, instead of merely complying? 

The national average for in-hospital cardiac arrest survival-to-discharge is 26 percent – but we know from our Get with the Guidelines – Resuscitation data that there’s significant variability in resuscitation care across U.S. hospitals.  In fact, a patient’s odds for surviving a cardiac arrest varies by up to 42 percent depending on the hospital¹, even considering the risk adjusted/similar case mix.

While it is not clear what factors are creating this variability in care, high-quality CPR is the single biggest influence on cardiac arrest survival. This is validated by the data and a critical connectivity opportunity between quality systems improvement and ongoing education and training.

When it comes to CPR quality, “good enough” won’t cut it. Cardiac arrest patients’ lives are on the line and depend on high-quality CPR to survive. For clinicians, hospital staff and patient care teams to be competent and ready for resuscitation events, quality training is critical. 

Because we write the guidelines for resuscitation here at the American Heart Association, we challenge ourselves to innovate within the training module, utilizing the data that our quality programs provide and developing solutions that combine the latest guidelines, training techniques and technology available to improve the delivery of care in these cardiac events.   

No other organization is more knowledgeable or more prepared to advise clinicians on cardiovascular conditions or the broad scope of resuscitation science or treatment.

We know the saying, “you can’t improve what you don’t measure.” Together, hospitals and other healthcare providers in the pre- and in-hospital settings can measure and improve the standard of care for cardiac arrest - and the American Heart Association can help. CPR is our science, training is our expertise, and saving lives is our business. 

More information is available at www.heart.org or cpr.heart.org.
 

John Meiners is Chief of Mission Aligned Businesses and Healthcare Solutions for the American Heart Association. John leads the development and expansion of AHA’s businesses that support its global mission to reduce mortality from cardiovascular diseases and stroke. He is responsible for furthering development of products, technology platforms and services.
 

The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. We are dedicated to ensuring equitable health in all communities. Through collaboration with numerous organizations, and powered by millions of volunteers, we fund innovative research, advocate for the public’s health and share lifesaving resources.