Background and Objectives Chest pain observation centers have been established in emergency departments throughout the United States and elsewhere in the world with the goal of facilitating the rapid diagnosis and management of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and appropriate triage of patients presenting with chest pain. The need to improve the process of emergency triage is dictated by the fact that 50-75% of those seen in emergency departments with the diagnosis of chest pain receive a diagnosis other than ACS upon discharge, and 5% of those discharged from the emergency department are subsequently proven to have myocardial infarction (1). Chest pain center goals include the avoidance of inappropriate discharge of patients with ACS and reducing the need to admit patients with a low risk of ACS.
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