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Article: Myocardial infarction and quality of care
- Article from:
- Canadian Medical Association. Journal
- Article date:
- October 21, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright Canadian Medical Association Oct 21, 2008. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Acritical feature of high-quality medicine is that patients receive, or at least to be considered for, all treatments where the benefits outweigh the risks and costs. This is especially true for those with acute myocardial infarction, where a wealth of evidence has led to clinical guidelines with specific indications for therapies. Yet studies report that hospital characteristics, such as teaching status,1 or physician characteristics, such as specialty, 2,3 affect how likely a patient with acute myocardial infarction is to receive evidence-based drug therapies. In this issue of CMAJ, 3 articles remind us of this fact and provide insights to reduce the gap between optimal and actual care ...