Why carry out this study?

Hospitalization accounts for one-third of health care spending in the United States, and identifying trends and tools to reduce avoidable incident and readmission hospitalizations is a key objective of value-based care models.

Cardiovascular conditions are frequent diagnoses associated with hospital admission following visits to the emergency department (ED).

This study evaluated trends in ED visits and subsequent inpatient admissions for patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and the symptom of chest pain suggestive of CAD.

What was learned from the study?

ED visits and subsequent inpatient admissions for CAD decreased between 2006 and 2013.

The number of ED visits increased over time for patients with chest pain suggestive of CAD, but subsequent inpatient admissions declined over this same period of time.

These trends may be explained, in part, by changes in health care policy and disease management strategies, including formulation of treatment plans and the use of observation units for patient care.