title: Is cardiac test availability a significant factor in weekend delays in discharge for chest pain patients?
abstract: The authors assessed whether the lack of weekend cardiac test availability significantly contributed to weekend delays in hospital discharge for "low-risk" chest pain patients. Mean lengths of stay were compared for late-week versus early-week admissions. Patients with late-week admissions had a 19% greater length of stay than did patients admitted earlier in the week (2.36 +/- 1.87 vs 1.91 +/- 1.21 days, p = 0.10, with p = 0.015 after adjusting for severity of illness). Cardiac diagnostic tests were ordered for only 4% of study patients. Therefore, the "weekend effect" existed in an environment where cardiac diagnostic tests were infrequently ordered.
authors.affiliation: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Cedars-Sinai Research Institute, UCLA School of Medicine.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sheng
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Ellrodt
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Agocs
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tankel
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Weingarten
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002637:Chest Pain; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003422:Critical Care / Q000191:economics; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006334:Heart Function Tests; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010343:Patient Admission; D010351:Patient Discharge; D012306:Risk; D013995:Time