Hospitals have a variety of strategies to reduce the time from arrival at the hospital to intracoronary balloon inflation (door-to-balloon time) for patients who have acute myocardial infarction with ST-segment elevation. In a study of 365 hospitals, 28 institutional strategies were identified with the use of a field-tested questionnaire. These strategies were correlated with door-to-balloon times for individual patients as reported to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Six strategies were associated with a significant reduction in the door-to-balloon time. The use of these strategies may improve outcomes for patients.

In this survey of institutional review board (IRB) members, 36% of those surveyed reported having relationships with industry. Although 86% believed that such relationships never adversely affected IRB-related decisions, a small number acknowledged that they had voted on a protocol sponsored by a company or a competitor to a company with which they had an association.

In this survey of patients enrolled in cancer trials, most were not worried about possible financial ties between researchers or medical centers and drug companies. Many patients wanted to be informed about financial ties or about the oversight system to protect against conflicts of interest, but few thought knowledge of financial ties would have influenced their decision to participate in the trial.