New Technology to Diagnose Chest Pain Earlier

For patients who arrive at a hospital emergency room suffering from chest pain, every second counts.  The faster medical personnel are able to accurately diagnose the cause of the pain, the more quickly they are able to administer life-saving treatments if necessary.

However, a patient experiencing chest pain is not necessarily having a heart attack.  Chest pain is a common symptom that can be associated with various ailments.  It can be as severe as a heart attack or as mild as indigestion.  This often makes it difficult for physicians to definitively determine which patients are actually experiencing a heart attack and require immediate therapy.

In the past, one to two hours or more was needed to obtain a confirmed diagnosis using standard methods and protocols, which presented an unwelcome delay in the heart patient's race against the clock.  Baptist Regional Medical Center launched a new initiative focused on providing suspected heart attack patients with a fast track to medical care.  With a simple 15 minute blood test called the Triage CardiolProfillER Panel, coupled with an accelerated protocol, Baptist Regional Medical Center's physicians can accurately diagnose and triage chest pain patients earlier and more effectively.

Previously, upon the arrival of a chest pain patient into the emergency department, the triage nurse would have to send the patient's blood samples to the laboratory for analysis, a process which was time consuming.  With the new system, a small patient blood sample is run on the Triage MeterPlus machine, which is about the size of a telephone, to measure elevated levels of particular proteins that are present in the blood of patients suffering from conditions such as heart failure or heart attack.  Because the tests are run near the patient's bedside in the emergency department, there's no waiting for results to be delivered from the laboratory.  With the readily available information, a physician can assess the patient's information immediately and the patient will be triaged appropriately.

"Our embrace of rapid, point-of-care diagnostic technology is a testament to Baptist Regional Medical Center's commitment to healthcare leadership and excellence," said Dr. Stephen Toadvine, Medical Director. "The ability to intervene more quickly with appropriate care is critical to saving lives; it's also critical to heading off emergency department overcrowding, which is a pressing problem in hospitals nationwide."

The addition of the state-of-the-art technology further demonstrates Baptist Regional Medical Center's commitment to leadership in the field of cardiac care." he added.