Only modest resources are needed to improve treatment of hospitalised patients with chest pain or heart failure: rapid assessment is a safe and efficient strategy.

Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of rapid assessment using modest resources in hospitalised chest pain and heart failure patients.

Methods: We evaluated 81 patients hospitalised for chest pain or heart failure in a prospective rapid assessment group and 162 patients in a retrospective usual care group with 6 months' follow-up. Main outcome measures were length of hospital stay at index observation, number of days spent in hospital for all causes, chest pain or heart failure, and number of visits to the doctor.