Trends in troponin-only testing for AMI in academic teaching hospitals and the impact of choosing wisely®

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Identifying hospitals that are both early and consistent adopters of high-value care can help shed light on the culture and practices at those institutions that are necessary to promote high-value care nationwide. The use of troponin to diagnose acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and not to test for myoglobin or creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB), is a high-value recommendation of the Choosing Wisely® campaign. OBJECTIVE: To examine the variation in cardiac biomarker testing and the effect of the Choosing Wisely® troponin-only recommendation for the diagnosis of AMI. DESIGN: A retrospective observational study using administrative ordering data from Vizient’s Clinical Database/Resource Manager. SETTING: Ninety-one academic medical centers from the fourth quarter of 2013 through the third quarter of 2016. PATIENTS: Hospitalized patients with a principal discharge diagnosis of AMI. INTERVENTION: The Choosing Wisely® recommendation to order troponin-only testing to diagnose AMI was released during the first quarter of 2015. RESULTS: In 19 hospitals, troponin-only testing was consistently ordered to diagnose AMI before the Choosing Wisely® recommendation and throughout the study period. In 34 hospitals, both troponin and myoglobin/CK-MB were ordered to diagnose AMI even after the Choosing Wisely® recommendation. In 26 hospitals with low rates of troponin-only testing before the Choosing Wisely® recommendation, the release of the recommendation was associated with a statistically significant increase in the rate of troponin-only testing to diagnose AMI. CONCLUSION: In institutions with low rates of troponin-only testing prior to the Choosing Wisely® recommendation, the recommendation was associated with a significant increase in the rate of troponin-only testing.