Cost implications of implementing NICE guideline on chest pain in rapid access chest pain clinics: an audit and cost analysis.

Background: Implementing the recently published National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) clinical guideline on chest pain (CG95) in rapid access chest pain clinics (RACPCs) could significantly impact on overall cost, while introducing new technology like cardiac computed tomography (CT) scanning. With the National Health Service (NHS) under pressure to make £20 billion savings, applying CG95 in RACPCs could be challenging. An audit enabled us to assess the cost implications.