Aggressive Measures to Decrease "Door to Balloon" Time and Incidence of Unnecessary Cardiac Catheterization: Potential Risks and Role of Quality Improvement.

Objective: To assess the impact of an aggressive protocol to decrease the time from hospital arrival to onset of reperfusion therapy ("door to balloon [DTB] time") on the incidence of false-positive (FP) diagnosis of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and in-hospital mortality.

Patients And Methods: The study population included 1031 consecutive patients with presumed STEMI and confirmed ST-segment elevation who underwent emergent catheterization between July 1, 2008, and December 1, 2012, On July 1, 2009, we instituted an aggressive protocol to reduce DTB time. A quality improvement (QI) initiative was introduced on January 1, 2011, to maintain short DTB while improving outcomes.