Effect of troponin I Point-of-Care testing on emergency department throughput measures and staff satisfaction

Emergency departments (EDs) are challenged to provide rapid triage and evaluation to make appropriate patient disposition and timely treatment decisions. Cardiac troponin is the preferred biomarker for evaluation of patients with chest pain. The objective of this before-and-after study was to determine the impact of Point-of-Care (POC) troponin testing on turnaround times, door-to-troponin result times, ED length of stay (LOS) in patients with chest pain, and staff satisfaction with POC testing. After POC implementation, the average door-to-troponin result time significantly decreased from 105 to 51 min (p < 0.000). The average LOS decreased from 290 to 255 min; however, the change was not significant (p = 0.082). The majority of nurses (81%) felt that POC testing encouraged communication among patient care team members, and satisfaction was high with 82% of all ED staff members rating their satisfaction as excellent.