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Published on: January 15, 2017
Interorganizational Collaboration in Emergency Cardiovascular Care
James R Langabeer1, Tiffany Champagne-Langabeer, Jeffrey R Helton
1School of Biomedical Informatics, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston (Drs Langabeer and Champagne-Langabeer); Metropolitan State University of Denver, Denver, Colorado (Dr Helton); American Heart Association, Denver, Colorado (Ms Segrest); Texas A&M University School of Public Health, College Station (Dr Kash); Department of Healthcare Leadership & Management, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston (Dr DelliFraine); and The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas (Dr Fowler).
Regional collaboration among hospitals and emergency services significantly reduced treatment times for heart attack patients. This 19-minute improvement demonstrates the power of interorganizational efforts in enhancing community-wide population health outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Health Services Research
- Organizational Behavior
- Public Health
Background:
- Interorganizational collaboration theory suggests benefits like innovation and competitive advantage.
- The impact of multi-institutional collaborations on community-wide quality outcomes remains under-explored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess if a large regional collaborative network can improve quality outcomes across communities.
- To evaluate the effect of interorganizational collaboration on treatment times for acute myocardial infarctions.
Main Methods:
- A regional collaborative network was established, including 15 hospitals and 24 emergency medical service agencies.
- Patient-level data on treatment times for acute myocardial infarctions were collected over a 6-year period.
- A pre-/posttest research design with median tests of differences was used to analyze outcome changes.
Main Results:
- Analysis included 2302 patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction.
- A statistically significant 19-minute median reduction in total ischemic time was observed.
- This represents a 10.8% community-wide improvement in treatment times.
Conclusions:
- Interorganizational collaboration focused on quality improvement can positively impact population health.
- This study supports broader participation by healthcare organizations in multi-institutional community change initiatives.
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