Errors in Electronic Health Record-Based Data Query of Statin Prescriptions in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease in a Large, Academic, Multispecialty Clinic Practice.

Background: With the recent implementation of the Medicare Quality Payment Program, providers face increasing accountability for delivering high-quality care. Such pay-for-performance programs aim to leverage systematic data captured by electronic health record (EHR) systems to measure performance; however, the fidelity of EHR query for assessing performance has not been validated compared with manual chart review. We sought to determine whether our institution's methodology of EHR query could accurately identify cases in which providers failed to prescribe statins for eligible patients with coronary artery disease.

Alcohol and the heart: an ounce of prevention.

Moderate alcohol intake is beneficial to the heart and cardiovascular system. A J- or U-shaped response has been shown in the majority of studies examining alcohol's effect on cardiovascular mortality and downstream cardio-metabolic effects, with heavy alcohol intake associated with worse outcomes. These effects apply to individuals with and without underlying coronary artery disease.