Baltimore, MD, Aug. 7, 2000 — The HCIA-Sachs Institute today released the results of its clinical research study linking the use of stents and specific drugs in angioplasty procedures with overall patient outcomes and top hospital performance. The study, Use of Stents and GP IIb/IIIa Inhibitors in PTCA Cases in American Hospitals: Benchmarks and Norms, found that use of the treatment pattern is linked to better long-term outcomes for angioplasty patients, and that the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals were more likely to use this specific treatment regimen during angioplasty procedures.

The procedure, Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty (PTCA), restores blood flow to the heart through compression of atherosclerotic plaque in the coronary arteries. The research study examined a treatment pattern that incorporated the use of stents, implants that keep blood passageways open, and glycoprotein inhibitors (GP IIb/IIIa), drugs that prevent the formations of blood clots.

Jean Chenoweth, executive director of the HCIA-Sachs Institute, said, "We’ve found that angioplasty patients in 100 Top Hospitals tend to receive more effective treatment resulting in better outcomes." While the technologies have been described as more costly, 100 Top Hospitals are using them while maintaining lower average charges for PTCA. It is possible that long term costs are also reduced with these technologies due to decreased need for revascularization procedures. Chenoweth added, "We anticipate that examination of additional procedures in a number of other clinical areas will yield similar results."

More specifically, the study found, for PTCA procedures:

• The use of stents, for hospitals in the study, results in a 7 percent decrease in the risk for revascularization.
• Hospitals that received the 100 Top Hospitals award for four or more years use stents 36 percent more often than non-100 Top Hospitals winners.
• 100 Top Hospitals are more likely to administer a glycoprotein inhibitor to a large group of generally low-risk patients.
• 100 Top Hospitals are 4 percent less likely to have to repeat the procedure.

Since the introduction of PTCA in the early 1970s, increasing numbers of patients with coronary artery disease have undergone the procedure. In the United States, more than 500,000 PTCAs were performed in 1998 alone.

Hospitals, distinguished with the annual 100 Top Hospitals award by the HCIA-Sachs Institute, have each exhibited superior managerial performance. This new study identifies best clinical practice patterns in 100 Top Hospitals during PTCA procedures, one specific area of cardiovascular treatment. The 100 Top Hospitals Clinical Research Program studies are performed by the HCIA-Sachs Institute to identify clinical treatment patterns, benchmarks, and differences between 100 Top Hospitals and peer hospitals.

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