News

Cardiologists have a common saying, ‘time is muscle.’ During a heart attack, damage to the heart can occur in mere minutes. For patients with atypical symptoms, advanced equipment plays a key role in determining a diagnosis – when every second counts.

Quicker response

The impetus to care for cardiac patients as quickly as possible was the reason for a new protocol at St. David’s South Austin Hospital, a part of St. David’s HealthCare, in Austin, Texas, USA. The hospital took a giant leap forward when it implemented four innovative Stratus^® CS Acute Care™ Diagnostic Systems right in its busy Emergency Department (ED) to test for cardiac biomarkers.

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Both patients and the hospital benefit from quicker time to medical diagnosis and improved clinical workflow. With the Stratus CS systems, troponin and other cardiac biomarker test results are available in only 14 to 17 minutes, compared to previous timeframes of 45 minutes to an hour when blood was sent to the central laboratory. “With reduced time to decision, we are able to initiate therapies much more quickly,” says Chief Medical Officer Steve Berkowitz, MD. “Those extra minutes can be the difference of life or death for a patient with heart disease.”

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Higher quality, more efficiency

Today, patients and payers alike are demanding higher quality and more efficient health care. Expedited high-sensitivity¹ testing in the ED with Siemens Stratus CS systems leads to unprecedented results – improving efficiency, buying valuable time, and making a difference to patients.

Key Benefits of Stratus CS Acute Care Diagnostic Systems²:

Dramatic time savings on test results (troponin and other cardiac biomarker test results available in only 14 to 17 minutes)
Earlier diagnoses lead to earlier intervention (70 percent reduction in time from ‘door to PCI’)
56 percent reduction in admissions for low-risk chest pain patients
Faster turnover of ED beds, reduction of unnecessary procedures, shorter length of stay, and fewer readmissions of cardiac patients
Better patient care
Organized, efficient use of clinicians’ time and hospital’s resources
Improved reimbursement

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¹ Defined by the ESC/ACC/AHA/WHF committee as an imprecision level of ≤10 percent at the 99th percentile of normal.
² Results may vary. Data on file.