Impact of team-based health information technology to improve low-density lipoprotein cholesterol goal attainment after acute coronary syndrome hospital discharge: a single-center experience

Abstract

Abstract Objectives The reduction in circulating low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is the primary aim of lipid-lowering therapies as a method of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk reduction. Although guidelines recommended strictly control of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) below 70 mg/dL by high-intensity statin therapy in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), the LDL-C target goal is not often attained. Health information technology (HIT) with information integration, decision making algorithm, is being applied on chronic illness care. Purpose We aimed to perform a qualitative review of the impact of HIT interventions on lipid management and LDL-C goal attainment in patients after ACS hospital discharge. Method Consecutive ACS patients with dyslipidemia (LDL-C >100 mg/dL) at discharge between January 2018 and December 2021 in a tertiary medical center were retrospectively reviewed. The LDL-C <70 mg/dL is defined as target. The team-based approach quality improvement program that consisted of patient education and high-intensity statin initiation before discharge, outpatient clinics with periodic laboratory follow-up, titration of lipid-lowering agents, and system-level interventions that involve database monitoring and outreach by centralized care teams, was introduced in October 2018. Electronical medical records including the medications, laboratory data at discharge and within 1 year were compared, before and after initiation of HIT system. Result A total 2248 ACS patients were included. The LDL-C <70 mg/dL attainment rate (36.52%, 53.57%, 59.22%, 62.18% in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021) and medium serum LDL-C level (80.5 mg/dL, 68 mg/dL, 65 mg/dL, 64 mg/dL in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021) significantly improved within 6 months after initiation of the team-based integrated intervention with assisted by HIT (2018 as the reference, all p<0.001). The LDL-C goal attainment rate at 12-month kept increasing gradually (53.80%, 61.82%, 64.21%, in 2019, 2020, 2021, p= 0.019). Most of the population initiated with moderate-intensity statin in 2018 (76.24%, 20.92%, 10.95%, 6.41% in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021), then switched to a high-intensity statin after initiation of the program (0.57%, 63.67%, 72.41%, 84.44% in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021) (2018 as the reference, all p<0.001), while the adverse event rates including hepatotoxicity and rhabdomyolysis remained similarly low. Conclusion Our results confirmed that multifaceted intervention with HIT assisted multidisciplinary approach could substantially improve LDL-C goal attainment in post-ACS patients. There was a direct relationship between high-intensity statins and LDL-C goal attainment, without significant increase of adverse events.LDL-C goal attainment rate and levelLower lipid treatment and adverse event