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Patient-identified factors related to heart failure readmissions.

ABSTRACT: Although readmission after hospitalization for heart failure has received increasing attention, little is known about its root causes. Prior investigations have relied on administrative databases, chart review, and single-question surveys.We performed semistructured 30- to 60-minute interviews of patients (n=28) readmitted within 6 months of index heart failure admission. Established qualitative approaches were used to analyze and to interpret data. Interview findings were the primary focus of the study, but patient information and provider comments from chart data were also consulted. Patient median age was 61 years; 29% were nonwhite; 50% were married; 32% had preserved ejection fraction; and median time from discharge to readmission was 31 days. Reasons for readmission were multifactorial and not easily categorized into mutually exclusive reasons. Five themes emerged as reasons cited for hospital readmission: distressing symptoms, unavoidable progression of illness, influence of psychosocial factors, good but imperfect self-care adherence, and health system failures.Our study provides the first systematic qualitative assessment of patient perspectives concerning heart failure readmission. Contrary to prior literature and distinct from what we found documented in the medical record, patient experiences were highly heterogeneous, not easily categorized as preventable or not preventable, and not easily attributed to a single cause. These findings suggest that future interventions designed to reduce heart failure readmissions should be multifaceted, should be systemic in nature, and should integrate patient input.

SUBMITTER: Retrum JH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4082819 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Patient-identified factors related to heart failure readmissions.

Retrum Jessica H JH Boggs Jennifer J Hersh Andrew A Wright Leslie L Main Deborah S DS Magid David J DJ Allen Larry A LA

Circulation. Cardiovascular quality and outcomes 20130205 2

<h4>Background</h4>Although readmission after hospitalization for heart failure has received increasing attention, little is known about its root causes. Prior investigations have relied on administrative databases, chart review, and single-question surveys.<h4>Methods and results</h4>We performed semistructured 30- to 60-minute interviews of patients (n=28) readmitted within 6 months of index heart failure admission. Established qualitative approaches were used to analyze and to interpret data. ...[more]

PMID: 23386663

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Project description:BackgroundReduction of 30-day all-cause readmissions for heart failure (HF) has become an important quality-of-care metric for health care systems. Many hospitals have implemented quality improvement programs designed to reduce 30-day all-cause readmissions for HF. Electronic medical record (EMR)-based measures have been employed to aid in these efforts, but their use has been largely adjunctive to, rather than integrated with, the overall effort.ObjectivesWe hypothesized that a comprehensive EMR-based approach utilizing an HF dashboard in addition to an established HF readmission reduction program would further reduce 30-day all-cause index hospital readmission rates for HF.MethodsAfter establishing a quality improvement program to reduce 30-day HF readmission rates, we instituted EMR-based measures designed to improve cohort identification, intervention tracking, and readmission analysis, the latter 2 supported by an electronic HF dashboard. Our primary outcome measure was the 30-day index hospital readmission rate for HF, with secondary measures including the accuracy of identification of patients with HF and the percentage of patients receiving interventions designed to reduce all-cause readmissions for HF.ResultsThe HF dashboard facilitated improved penetration of our interventions and reduced readmission rates by allowing the clinical team to easily identify cohorts with high readmission rates and/or low intervention rates. We significantly reduced 30-day index hospital all-cause HF readmission rates from 18.2% at baseline to 14% after implementation of our quality improvement program ( P = .045). Implementation of our EMR-based approach further significantly reduced 30-day index hospital readmission rates for HF to 10.1% ( P for trend = .0001). Daily time to screen patients decreased from 1 hour to 15 minutes, accuracy of cohort identification improved from 83% to 94.6% ( P = .0001), and the percentage of patients receiving our interventions, such as patient education, also improved significantly from 22% to 100% over time ( P < .0001).ConclusionsIn an institution with a quality improvement program already in place to reduce 30-day readmission rates for HF, an EMR-based approach further significantly reduced 30-day index hospital readmission rates.

Project description:AimsInformation on the prevalence, outcome and factors associated with heart failure in patients with adult congenital heart disease (CHD) (ACHD-HF) is lacking. We aimed at assessing the prevalence and outcome of ACHD-HF, the variables associated with ACHD-HF, and the differences between major anatomical/pathophysiological ACHD subgroups.Methods and resultsWe included 3905 patients (age 35.4 ± 13.2 years) under active follow-up in our institution (last visit >2010). Outcome of ACHD-HF cases was compared with sex- and age-matched cases. Univariable and multivariable binary logistic regression with ACHD-HF diagnosis as a dependent variable was performed. Overall prevalence of ACHD-HF was 6.4% (mean age 49.5 ± 16.7 years), but was higher in patients with cyanotic CHD (41%), Fontan circulation (30%), and a systemic right ventricle (25%). All-cause mortality was higher in ACHD-HF cases when compared with controls (mortality rate ratio 4.67 (2.36-9.27); P = 0.0001). In multivariable logistic regression analysis, age at latest follow-up [per 10 years; odds ratio (OR) 1.52; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.31-1.77], infective endocarditis (OR 4.11; 95%CI 1.80-9.38), history of atrial arrhythmia (OR 3.52; 95%CI 2.17-5.74), pacemaker implantation (OR 2.66; 95% CI 1.50-4.72), end-organ dysfunction (OR 2.41; 95% CI 1.03-5.63), New York Heart Association class (OR 9.28; 95% CI 6.04-14.25), heart rate (per 10 bpm; OR 1.27; 95% CI 1.08-1.50), ventricular dysfunction (OR 3.62; 95% CI 2.54-5.17), and pulmonary hypertension severity (OR 1.66; 95% CI 1.21-2.30) were independently related to the presence of ACHD-HF. Some variables (age, atrial arrhythmia, pacemaker, New York Heart Association, and ventricular dysfunction) were related to ACHD-HF in all anatomical/physiological subgroups, whereas others were not.ConclusionsACHD-HF is prevalent especially in complex CHD and is associated with poor prognosis. Our data provide insight in the factors related to ACHD-HF including differences between specific anatomical and physiological subgroups.

Project description:BackgroundPrimary health care is essential for an appropriate management of heart failure (HF), a disease which is a major clinical and public health issue and a leading cause of hospitalization. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of different organizational factors on readmissions of patients with HF.MethodsThe study population included elderly resident in the Local Health Authority of Bologna (Northern Italy) and discharged with a diagnosis of HF from January to December 2010. Unplanned hospital readmissions were measured in four timeframes: 30 (short-term), 90 (medium-term), 180 (mid-long-term), and 365 days (long-term). Using multivariable multilevel Poisson regression analyses, we investigated the association between readmissions and organizational factors (discharge from a cardiology department, general practitioners' monodisciplinary organizational arrangement, and implementation of a specific HF care pathway).ResultsThe 1873 study patients had a median age of 83 years (interquartile range 77-87) and 55.5% were females; 52.0% were readmitted to the hospital for any reason after a year, while 20.1% were readmitted for HF. The presence of a HF care pathway was the only factor significantly associated with a lower risk of readmission for HF in the short-, medium-, mid-long- and long-term period (short-term: IRR [incidence rate ratio]=0.57, 95%CI [confidence interval]=0.35-0.92; medium-term: IRR=0.70, 95%CI=0.51-0.96; mid-long-term: IRR=0.79, 95%CI=0.64-0.98; long-term: IRR=0.82, 95%CI=0.67-0.99), and with a lower risk of all-cause readmission in the short-term period (IRR=0.73, 95%CI=0.57-0.94).ConclusionOur study shows that the HF care specific pathway implemented at the primary care level was associated with lower readmission rate for HF in each timeframe, and also with lower readmission rate for all causes in the short-term period. Our results suggest that the engagement of primary care professionals starting from the early post-discharge period may be relevant in the management of patients with HF.

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Patient-identified factors related to heart failure readmissions.

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Patient-identified factors related to heart failure readmissions.

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