Impact of a chest-pain guideline on clinical decision-making.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of a chest-pain guideline on clinical decision-making and medium-term outcomes of patients presenting to a hospital emergency department (ED) with non-traumatic chest pain.

Design: Before-and-after guideline implementation study.

Setting: Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital, Sydney, NSW (454-bed metropolitan teaching hospital), in the six-month periods before and after guideline implementation in February 2001.