CT Scans in Emergency Room May Become Standard to Determine Heart Disease

When someone is having chest pains, they should go to the hospital immediately. In the near future, hospitals may have another tool at their disposal to help detect the reason for that chest pain - a sophisticated CT scan. In a recent press release, researchers announced they are recommending this treatment.

Everyone wins when chest pains are checked using a CT scan. If there's a real problem, it can be addressed immediately. If there's no problem, the patient can be sent home. That's what researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Not only is the patient treated quickly, if they do not have a heart problem, releasing them faster decreases their cost to the hospital's emergency department. Additionally, it frees up much needed space caused by the overcrowding that occurs at many hospitals, thus benefiting all patients who can be treated quicker.

Every day we hear of more and more cases where people are using hospital emergency departments for more routine type of medical care, many of which are not emergencies at all. Yet the costs for providing care in the emergency room continue to skyrocket.

This solution does not reduce patient care, indeed the CT scan is typically a more expensive treatment option, which is why so few hospitals utilize is. Yet, its increased costs are offset by the quicker turnaround that is provided to the person suffering from chest pain, as well as all of the other patients in the emergency department, and those awaiting treatment.

"The cost of chest pain triage (where patients in the Emergency Department are prioritized based on their symptoms) and management has been estimated to be as high as $8 billion annually, with most patients ultimately not having to remain in the hospital. Therefore, there is a tremendous opportunity to reduce health care costs if we can demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of this procedure with low-risk patients who go to the Emergency Department," said Rajan Agarwal, M.D., a resident in Radiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

About the study
This study was based upon the results of over 200 patients, all of whom were over the age of 30, that were treated in the Emergency Department of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. The visits occurred between October 2005 and February 2007.

These patients complained of chest pain. They were treated with both an electrocardiogram and a specialized CT scan to check for signs of heart problems.

The CT scan reduced the length of each persons hospital visit without affecting the quality of care that was provided to the patient.

Dr. Agarwl will continue his research related to the costs associated with emergency room medicine, including other diagnostic tests and laboratory tests, for patients who are low-risk of having heart problems.

Source:
http://www.newswise.com/p/articles/view/535656/