CMS Joint Commission remove AMI-6 from list of quality-reporting measures

Modern Healthcare (8/10, DerGurahian) reported that CMS and the Joint Commission, "in the final inpatient prospective payment system for 2010," removed the quality-reporting measure "known as AMI-6, which requires providers to give heart patients a beta blocker on arrival. Research since 2005 from the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association -- both of which in 2007 had removed AMI-6 as a guideline for cardiologists -- has shown giving beta blockers to patients with a history of heart failure could increase their risk of going into the potentially fatal condition known as cardiogenic shock, according to an explanation of the retirement posted on the CMS website." Modern Healthcare suggested that "the move concerning the use of beta blockers only raises more questions about evidence-based research and quality-reporting efforts."