Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Emergency Care, Heart Disease / 25.04.2017
Use of HEART Score in ER Can Help Evaluate Low Risk Chest Pain
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Judith Poldervaart MD, PhD
Assistant professor
Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care
University Medical Center
Utrecht
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Since its development in 2008, interest in the HEART score is increasing and several research groups around the world have been publishing on the HEART score. After validation of any risk score for cardiac events, there is a concern about the safety when used in daily practice.
We were able to show the HEART score is just as safe as the usual care currently used at EDs, which has not been shown yet in previous research. That we did not find a decrease in costs, is probably due to the hesitance of physicians to discharge low-risk patients from the ED without further testing. But extrapolation of the findings of a cost-effectiveness analysis (including nonadherence) suggests that HEART care could lead to annual savings of €40 million in the Netherlands. Hopefully, in time (and more publications of the HEART score now appearing almost weekly from all over the world) this effect on use of health care resources will become more apparent.
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