Statins are drugs used to lower cholesterol, a necessary type of fat in all people's blood. Cholesterol levels that are too high can increase your chance of heart attack, stroke and other health problems. For patients who have had a heart attack and have high cholesterol, taking statins can lower the chance that they'll have another heart attack or die from a heart attack. This measure shows the percentage of patients who had a heart attack who received a prescription for a statin before being sent home from the hospital.

July 2011 - June 2012 data

For the above graph: Higher ↑ performance is better.

Results over time

For the above graph: Higher ↑ performance is better.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently added this as a new performance measure. The period between January 2010 and December 2010 is the first time CMS has tracked data on this quality measurement.

More heart attack measurements 

• Patients given asprin at arrival
• Patients given aspirin at discharge
• Patients given ACE inhibitors or ARB for left ventricular systolic dysfunction
• Patients given smoking-cessation advice or counseling
• Patients given beta blockers at discharge
• Patients given PCI within 90 minutes of arrival
• Heart attack mortality rates
• Heart attack re-admission rates
• Patients given a prescription for a statin at discharge

Back to Cardiovascular Care