VIDEO: Chest Pain Choice tool helps patients, physicians with ED discharge decisions

CHICAGO — Ajay J. Kirtane, MD, SM, of New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, discusses implications of the Chest Pain Choice trial following its presentation in a late-breaking session at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting.

“While patients on the whole felt slightly better and slightly more informed, their clinicians felt that this tool helped them quite a bit explain to their patients what their risks of potential complications would be if they had testing or if they went home,” he says.

In context of the continual challenges ER physicians face with individuals presenting with low-risk chest pain and unstable angina, Kirtane outlines the researchers’ objectives, reviews the specific choices involved in the shared decision-making tool, and highlights findings and its future promise.

“We can see whether this ought to be established in clinical practice as a way to allow patients to make that decision more than just the physicians themselves or the legal system.”