Abstract
Background: Guidelines for the use of telemetry in hospitalized patients have been proposed by the American College of Cardiology (ACC). However, there have been only a few studies which have investigated the usefulness of these guidelines in clinical practice.
Hypothesis: This study assessed the role of telemetry in the decision making process outside the critical care units.
Methods: The observational study, lasting 4 weeks, was conducted in the telemetry unit of a tertiary care teaching hospital and included 61 male patients (age range 40‐61 years). They had been directly admitted to the telemetry unit or transferred from a critical care unit and were followed for as long as telemetry was active. Indication for telemetry and the contribution of telemetry to management decisions were assessed by a physician not involved in the care of the patient.
Results: Cumulative number of telemetry days was 379 with a mean of 6.2 days per patient. Total number of telemetry events was 297. According to the ACC classification, 14 patients (22.9%) had class I indication, 21 patients (34.4%) had class II indication, and 26 patients (42.6%) had class III indication. Telemetry events were seen in 18.2% of class I patients, in 39.7% of class II patients, and in 42.1% of class III patients. Only 12 telemetry events (4%) resulted in patient management, with none belonging to class III.
Conclusion: Telemetry findings in patients outside the critical care units are not usually responsible for major therapeutic changes. The value of telemetry in such patients may be overrated.
Keywords: telemetry monitoring, cost effectiveness, utilization review
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (317.4 KB).
References
- 1. Recommended guidelines for in‐hospital cardiac monitoring of adults for detection of arrhythmias. J Am Coll Cardiol 1991; 18: 1431–1433 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2. Estrada CA, Prasad NK, Rosman HS, Young MJ: Outcomes of patients hospitalized to a telemetry unit. Am J Cardiol 1994; 74: 357–362 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 3. Estrada CA, Rosman HS, Prasad NK, Battilana G. Alexander M, Held AC, Young MJ: Role of telemetry monitoring in the nonintensive care unit. Am J Cardiol 1995; 76: 960–965 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 4. Lipskis DJ. Dannehl KN, Silverman ME: Value of radiotelemetry in a community hospital. Am J Cardiol 1984; 53: 1284–1287 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 5. Turkic W, Brown AK: The use of radiotelemetry after discharge from the coronary care unit. J Roy Coll Phyx London 1990; 4: 277–280 [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]