PGIMER’s Dedicated Cardiac Triage at PGIMER Streamlines Emergency Care, Manages more than 3000 Patients in Five Months
Dedicated Cardiology Triage Marks a Significant Step towards More Efficient Emergency Care & Improved Patient Flow: Prof. Vivek Lal, Director PGIMER
The Voice of Chandigarh News
The dedicated Cardiology Triage Unit at the Advanced Cardiac Centre (ACC), PGIMER, Chandigarh, has demonstrated significant clinical and operational impact since its inception, managing 3,049 cardiac patients in nearly five months, from March 9 to July 29, 2026.
Reflecting on the significance of the initiative, Prof. Vivek Lal, Director, PGIMER, stated, “The dedicated Cardiology Triage Unit is an important step towards strengthening specialised emergency care at PGIMER. Its success lies not merely in the number of patients managed, but in creating a structured pathway through which patients can be rapidly assessed and directed to the level of care they actually require. This has improved patient flow while allowing the Institute’s emergency resources to be utilised more effectively.”
The Director PGIMER further elaborated, “Developed as a dedicated cardiac emergency service independent of the Nehru Hospital Main Emergency, the unit has enabled focused assessment, early clinical decision-making and appropriate routing of patients according to their clinical requirements, while substantially reducing the burden on the main emergency.”
Highlighting the clinical experience of the unit, Dr. Rajesh Vijayvergiya, Professor, Department of Cardiology, Advanced Cardiac Centre, PGIMER, said, “The progressive increase in patient volumes has validated the need for a dedicated cardiac triage pathway. Nearly half of the patients could be managed and discharged after appropriate evaluation, while patients requiring intensive cardiac care were promptly escalated to the CCU. The model has enabled efficient clinical stratification, timely intervention, including primary PCI, and safe management of a growing emergency workload.”
Of the 3,049 patients managed, 1,108 patients (36.3%) were shifted to the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) for further management, while 1,513 patients (49.6%) were treated and discharged on an OPD basis. Another 298 patients (9.8%) were referred to the Nehru Hospital Emergency for non-cardiac emergencies, 85 patients (2.8%) were directed to the appropriate Cardiology/CTVS OPD, and 30 patients (1%) were admitted to Heart Command for evaluation and stabilisation.
The unit also facilitated 26 primary PCI procedures, enabling timely revascularisation for patients requiring urgent cardiac intervention. Despite the steadily increasing patient load, with weekly volumes rising from around 100 patients in March to over 200 patients by July, the overall mortality remained low at 0.5 per cent, with 16 deaths recorded during the reporting period.
The weekly patient volume increased steadily during the reporting period, reaching 233 patients in the week of July 9–15, reflecting the growing utilisation of the dedicated service. The experience has demonstrated that focused triage can reduce unnecessary admissions, improve patient flow and facilitate rapid decision-making in acute cardiac cases.
The Cardiology Triage Unit has thus emerged as a scalable model for high-volume tertiary cardiac care, with the potential to inform similar dedicated emergency care pathways at other tertiary healthcare institutions.
