In patients presenting to the ED with heart failure, there is a disconnect between the perceived severity of CHF by ED physicians and severity as determined by BNP levels. The BNP levels can predict future outcomes and thus may aid physicians in making triage decisions about whether to admit or discharge patients. Emerging clinical data will help further refine biomarker-guided outpatient therapeutic and monitoring strategies involving BNP.

Paramedics and emergency physicians agreed that a significant percentage of patients did not require ambulance transport to the emergency department. Despite only moderate agreement regarding which patients needed transport, the undertriage rate was low.

No abstract