Telecardiology for the issuance of an electrocardiogram report: the implementation of this tool in the Emergency Room of a Hospital in Vale do Itajaí (Atena Editora)

Abstract

In the context of urgency and emergency, cardiovascular diseases have a high morbidity and mortality. Thus, the electrocardiogram (ECG) is a test widely used in emergency care due to its versatility, wide use to guide therapeutic approaches and to assess the patient's general condition. Therefore, the ECG if interpreted and reported by a cardiologist, in the shortest possible time, is able to offer more chances of a good clinical outcome to the patient, by increasing the diagnostic accuracy. Given this scenario, telecardiology is a promising technology that can improve patient access to the assessment and treatment of cardiovascular problems, reducing the number of hospitalizations, improving patients' quality of life and centralizing these exams on one platform, contributing to the reduction errors in reports made by non-specialist physicians. With this, this experience report analyzed the impact of the implementation of the Electrocardiogram Reporting System by telecardiology in the emergency room of a Hospital in Vale do Itajaí, where the electrocardiograms performed are sent to a platform of the implanted system, where they are classified and evaluated by a cardiologist, obtaining an accurate diagnosis in up to 10 minutes. In this work, the records of electrocardiograms performed within the period from March 2, 2021 to September 13, 2022 were extracted, totaling 5,577 electrocardiograms reported and an average of 2 minutes 47 seconds to be reported and released on the technological platform. Therefore, the implementation of the telecardiology project brought more reliable reports to the Emergency Room of the Hospital do Vale do Itajaí, more dynamic assistance, more assertive conduct, digital centralization of exams and reports and assistance in complying with the Guidelines for the care of patients with cardiological complaints.