The 2001 MJA/Wyeth Award was awarded to the authors of “The effects of quality improvement interventions on inhospital mortality after acute myocardial infarction” (MJA 2001; 175: 465-467).

At the recent AMA National Conference Dr Ian Scott accepted the MJA/Wyeth Research Award from Dr Kerryn Phelps, AMA President, and a cheque from Professor Deborah Saltman, Medical Director of Wyeth Australia.

Dr Ian Scott is from the Department of Internal Medicine, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, and his co-authors, Dr Michael Coory and Dr Catherine Harper, are from the Epidemiology Branch of Queensland Health. They received the award for their clinical research into reducing in-patient mortality from myocardial infarction. Each year approximately 20 000 Australians suffer an acute event from coronary artery disease — mostly myocardial infarction — and of people with this malady admitted to hospital about one in eight died. Dr Scott and his co-investigators showed that the implementation of quality improvement interventions produced a 50% reduction in in-hospital mortality. With the use of locally generated, evidence-based clinical guidelines, audit of outcomes and feedback to clinicians — the classical tools of quality improvement — the in-hospital mortality was reduced from 12.5% in 1994-95 (pre-intervention) to 8.8% in 1996-99 (post-intervention).

Indeed, the post-intervention mortality rates from acute myocardial infarction were lower in the test hospital — a district hospital — than in hospitals with coronary revascularisation facilities or those treating larger numbers of patients with infarcts. Professor Saltman warmly congratulated the recipients and noted that for quite some time now the profession has viewed guidelines with some scepticism; however, Dr Scott and his team have elegantly demonstrated the efficacy of locally generated and approved guidelines and their study was “a courageous one with remarkable results of interest to all clinicians”.