A combined care model using early access to specialists off-hours to reduce cardiac admissions

Despite the implementation of diagnostic and treatment algorithms for many common cardiovascular (CV) complaints, identifying low- and intermediate-risk cardiac patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) who could be managed without hospital admission remains difficult. We hypothesized that the presence of an attending cardiologist in the ED after normal working hours would decrease the proportion of these patients admitted to the hospital. We conducted a retrospective study of patients seen in the ED with cardiac diagnoses identified by ICD-9 codes during the time period when the cardiologist was available (6 p.m.–midnight) compared with patients seen at other times of the day in the 12 months before and after the consultation program was implemented. The primary outcome was disposition at the time of discharge from the ED. Logistic regression was used to model the primary outcome. A difference-in-differences approach was used as the primary statistical test .Following the start of the consultation program, the odds of discharge home from the ED with or without observation increased (OR 1.69, 95% CI [1.45–1.96]). There was a significant interaction between pre-/post-intervention status and time of day in the odds of discharge home from the ED (P = 0.04) suggesting an association between the consultation program and disposition patterns that is independent of concurrent programs aimed to reduce utilization. An ED-based cardiology consultation program may reduce the need for inpatient stays by identifying low- to intermediate-risk patients safe for discharge from the ED with or without a period of active management/observation.