BACKGROUND:

Primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is more effective on average than fibrinolytic therapy in the treatment of ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction. Yet, most US hospitals are not equipped for PCI, and fibrinolytic therapy is still widely used. This study evaluated the comparative effectiveness of ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction regionalization strategies to increase the use of PCI against standard emergency transport and care.

METHODS AND RESULTS:

We estimated incremental treatment costs and quality-adjusted life expectancies of 2000 patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction who received PCI or fibrinolytic therapy in simulations of emergency care in a regional hospital system. To increase access to PCI across the system, we compared a base case strategy with 12 hospital-based strategies of building new PCI laboratories or extending the hours of existing laboratories and 1 emergency medical services-based strategy of transporting all patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction to existing PCI-capable hospitals. The base case resulted in 609 (95% CI, 569-647) patients getting PCI. Hospital-based strategies increased the number of patients receiving PCI, the costs of care, and quality-adjusted life years saved and were cost-effective under a variety of conditions. An emergency medical services-based strategy of transporting every patient to an existing PCI facility was less costly and more effective than all hospital expansion options.

CONCLUSION:

Our results suggest that new construction and staffing of PCI laboratories may not be warranted if an emergency medical services strategy is both available and feasible.