Identification of Physician Concerns Regarding Implementation of the Nagasaki Acute Myocardial Infarction Secondary Prevention Clinical Pathway

Background: The Nagasaki Acute Myocardial Infarction Secondary Prevention Clinical Pathway (NASP) is a regional pathway that aims to standardize practices related to the treatment of acute myocardial infarction in order to improve patient prognoses. This study aimed to understand physician backgrounds and concerns regarding implementation of the NASP. Methods and Results: This exploratory sequential mixed-methods study was developed around the RE-AIM (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance) framework. Following focus group interviews, the web-based, self-administered questionnaire survey with a cross-sectional study design was given to 62 physicians who practiced at acute care hospitals (ACHs), primary care hospitals (PCHs), or outpatient clinics (OCs) in the Nagasaki prefecture. Hayashi's quantitative theory type II analysis was used to assess the quantitative relationship between physician characteristics and their concerns. In addition, physicians were clustered based on the types of concerns they had. Our results demonstrated that specialists in cardiovascular disease held more concerns regarding implementation of the NASP. Furthermore, workload burden was found to be the most common concern among these physicians. Cooperation between physicians at ACHs and physicians at PCHs/OCs was also found to be vital for the NASP. Conclusions: Interventions such as modifications to the NASP operation may assist in alleviating concerns regarding the NASP and allow for the development of tailored interventions and effective expansion of the pathway.