A Comprehensive Approach to Achieving Door to Balloon Metric Sustainability

Over the past 5 years, our teams have focused on establishing an American College of Cardiology Chest Pain Center-accredited percutaneous coronary intervention program. Our initiatives have concentrated on achieving defect-free care, optimizing standardization of acute coronary syndrome management, and reducing door to balloon (D2B) times. Preserving these initiatives can be challenging for a 220-bed, community-based hospital due to increasing health care demands and resource constraints. However, our commitment to integrating sustainability principles into D2B workflow optimization ensures long-term performance without compromising care quality. After the implementation of sustainability practices, the proportion of patients meeting ≤90-minute D2B benchmark increased from 79.3% to 98.0%. Key interventions included streamlined documentation, efficient emergency department processes, and coordinated cardiac catheterization laboratory workflows. These results reflect ongoing process optimization, enhanced interdepartmental coordination, and sustained adherence to evidence-based protocols. Sustaining excellence requires more than commitment. Measuring, quantifying, communicating, and sharing the impact reducing D2B time has on patient outcomes creates value for everyone.