Decreasing 30-Day Readmission Rates in Patients With Heart Failure

Background: Heart failure affects approximately 6.2 million adults in the United States and has an estimated national cost of $30.7 billion annually. Despite advances in treatment, heart failure is a leading cause of hospital readmissions. Nonadherence to treatment plans, lack of education, and lack of access to care contribute to poorer outcomes.

Local problem: For patients with heart failure, the mean readmission rate is 21% nationally and 23% in New York State. Before the pilot heart failure program began, the 30-day readmission rate in the study institution was 28.6%.

Methods: A multidisciplinary team created a heart failure self-care pilot program that was implemented on a hospital telemetry unit with 47 patients. Patients received education on their disease process, medications, diet, exercise, and early symptom recognition. Patients received a follow-up telephone call 48 to 72 hours after discharge and were seen by a cardiologist within a week of discharge.

Results: The 30-day readmission rate for heart failure decreased by 16.6% after implementation of the pilot program, which improved patient adherence to their medication and treatment plan and resulted in a reduction of readmissions.

Discussion: Patients in the pilot program represented diverse backgrounds. Socioeconomic factors such as the lack of affordable, healthy food choices and easy access to resources were associated with worse outcomes.

Conclusions: The evidence-based heart failure program improved knowledge, early symptom recognition, lifestyle modification, and adherence to medication, treatment plan, and follow-up appointments. The multidisciplinary team approach to the heart failure program reduced gaps in care and improved coordination and transition of care.