For patients entering the emergency department with chest pain, higher ED volume was associated with lower death rates for acute coronary syndrome at 30 days and one year, a study published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes found.
The researchers used population-based data on about 498,00 patients who visited an ED in Ontario, Canada, from 2008-14 with chest pain and were discharged after assessment. They then evaluated care processes after discharge from the ED.
Patients discharged from higher volume EDs also had higher rates of cardiologist consultations, cardiac medication use and cardiac testing within 30 days of ED assessment.
"Evaluations of chest pain in EDs with higher chest pain volume had lower rates of death or hospitalizations for acute coronary syndrome," the researchers wrote. However, the researchers said there was a volume threshold above which a higher patient volume was not linked to additional outcome improvements.