Beta blocker treatment following acute myocardial infarction: an effective but underutilized intervention

For the past six years, the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care, Inc. (AFMC), Health Care Quality Improvement Program (HCQIP), has focused primarily on inpatient projects. In 1996, we began expanding project information to include outpatient issues. Earlier ambulatory topics included management of thyroid disease, diabetes and flu immunization. This AFMC project focuses on the prevalence of facility resources to manage hypertension and asthma as part of quality improvement efforts for Medicare and Medicaid patients in Arkansas. AFMC understands that outpatient facilities frequently lack an infrastructure to conduct outpatient chart audits in an efficient and effective fashion. This difficulty in data acquisition reflects a significant barrier. Nevertheless, certain processes and structural elements can be assessed to improve management of common outpatient conditions.