MI hospitals' collaboration makes for safer angioplasty

Angioplasty has gotten safer in Michigan through a model state project to reduce complications. The project is a 15-year effort through which the state's heart hospitals share data and insights about the best ways to reduce the most common problems of coronary angioplasty and stenting. The death rate from elective procedures is very low—one death for every 1,000 procedures. Started among five hospitals in July 1997, the project has grown to involve all 33 Michigan hospitals that perform angioplasty in the state. It is thought to be the largest and most comprehensive state registry of the procedure of its kind, one of more than a dozen regional quality improvement initiatives funded by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.