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Feasibility and Impact of the Combined Application of Coronary CT Angiography with the HEART Pathway in Patients with Suspected Acute Coronary Syndrome.

ABSTRACT:

Background

This study examines the feasibility and utility of integrating coronary CT angiography and the HEART Pathway into a novel accelerated diagnostic protocol - called HEART-CT - and assesses its impact as an optional interactive decision support tool (Smart Form) in the electronic health record.

Methods

This was a retrospective observational study performed in 2 adult emergency departments (ED) among patients evaluated for suspected acute coronary syndrome. Primary outcomes included the rate of discharge from the ED following HEART-CT Smart Form use, 30-day major adverse cardiac events (MACE), and ED length of stay (LOS). Hypothesis-generating outcomes included the rate of Smart Form use by ED providers and whether adhering to the HEART-CT recommendations was associated with improved outcomes.

Results

The study included 672 subjects, 78.1% of whom were discharged from the ED. HEART-CT identified 76.7% of patients with increased risk HEAR scores as safe for discharge. No patients identified as low-risk by HEART-CT had MACE within 30 days. Total mean ED LOS was 4.6 hours. ED providers used the HEART-CT Smart Form in 19.7% of eligible patients. ED providers who followed the HEART-CT recommendations had 3.41 times higher odds of ED discharging patients with increased risk HEAR scores than nonadherent providers (95% CI, 2.20-5.27).

Conclusions

HEART-CT reclassified a large proportion of patients as safe for discharge, maintained a high sensitivity for detecting 30-day MACE, and had an acceptable ED LOS. Future studies should test the extent to which more automated clinical decision support improves provider adoption and clinical outcomes of HEART-CT.

SUBMITTER: Matuskowitz AJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8408286 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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