BEACON - Striving to improve the process of care and health outcomes of patients presenting with chest pain

In the United States during 2008, it is estimated that 11.2 million patients will come to an Emergency Department for the evaluation of chest pain. 

Prompt diagnosis and treatment of acute coronary syndromes are a major healthcare challenge. The current standard of an initial 12-lead ECG and biomarker measurement still miss or delay treatment for a substantial number of patients who, in fact, have an acute coronary syndrome.

The purpose of the BEACON Registry is to evaluate the impact of new technologies, practice patterns and initiatives on patient time to diagnosis, patient time to treatment, patient survival and overall economics.

Emergency Department patients typically account for approximately 12% of hospital admissions, and, on average, chest pain patients represent the second highest category of admission, accounting for approximately 5% of total visits to the Emergency Department.  The differential diagnosis of chest pain can be time consuming and the inappropriate discharge of chest pain patients results in the single highest cost of all malpractice categories in the emergency room and the second highest in the hospital. (Source: Advance Data from Vital and Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control, Number 386, June 29, 2007, National Hospital Medical Ambulatory Care Survey: 2005 Emergency Department Summary).

BEACON provides clinicians and institutions with a unique opportunity to demonstrate how new ECG, biomarker and imaging technologies, and improved care processes may be effectively applied to address delays that have been consistently observed in the US and worldwide with the CRUSADE, GRACE and NRMI registries, all of which have identified significant opportunities for improvement in door-to-balloon time, door-to-needle time, and appropriate stratification of high-risk subgroups such as the elderly, diabetics and post-menopausal women.