Chest Pain Assessment in Children

SCAMP - Standardized Clinical Assessment Management Plan

JAHA April 2012

Demographic variables, clinical characteristics, and cardiac testing in a historical cohort (n=406) of patients presenting to our outpatient division for initial evaluation of chest pain in the most recent pre-SCAMP calendar year (2009) to patients enrolled in the chest pain SCAMP (n=364).

Demographic variables including age at presentation, sex, and clinical characteristics were similar between groups.

Adherence to the SCAMP algorithm for echocardiography was 84%. Practice variation decreased significantly after implementation of the SCAMP (P<0.001).

The number of exercise stress tests obtained was significantly lower in the SCAMP-enrolled patients compared with the historic cohort (∼3% of patients versus 29%, respectively; P<0.001).

Similarly, there was a 66% decrease in utilization of Holter monitors and 75% decrease in the use of long-term event monitors after implementation of the chest pain SCAMP (P=0.003 and P<0.001, respectively).

The number of echocardiograms obtained was similar between groups.

Conclusions Implementation of a SCAMP for evaluation of pediatric chest pain has lead to a decrease in practice variation and resource utilization.