Rural Accelerated Chest Pain Pathway (RACPP)

All Pinnacle practices in the Waikato provided they have an iSTAT equipment, and their staff have had appropriate training. (See equipment and supplies below.)

This service provides funding as a package of care for management under the RACPP over a 2-hour period regardless of outcome.

This allows for follow-up of patient’s 2-hour results and up to 115 mins of practice observation time.

• Patients not enrolled in a Waikato general practice.
• Out of region patients do not have funding provided under this programme.

Patients with:

• ST segment elevation myocardial infarction present on ECG
• an EDAC score 16 or above
• haemodynamic instability
• active chest pain that is suspected to be of cardiac origin
• chest pain clearly due to non-coronary pathology
• suspected PE, pancreatitis, AAA or STEMI.

Any patient who requires transfer to hospital regardless of a negative troponin, due to other medical conditions, or need for other investigations.

Practices are required to provide sufficiently detailed consultation notes to determine appropriate use of funding.

It has been recommended that in addition to a good assessment and history, the full range of appropriate observations should be documented, especially where the diagnosis is undetermined. It is important to state the time of consultations and interactions with the patient.

No. A patient co-payment cannot be charged.

iSTAT point of care (POC) testing equipment and consumables can be purchased from Abbott Pharmaceuticals.

Please make contact with them and set up an account to place your orders directly. We’ve included information regarding the products in their catalogue, current prices and contact details on this resource page.

For repairs or servicing please contact Abbott directly. There is the option to obtain a 12-month service contract to cover any repairs that may be needed, and a loan device is also arranged with this option. 

The service is funded by Te Whatu Ora - Waikato.