Heart Failure (HF)

Heart failure accounts for more than 700,000 hospitalizations among Medicare beneficiaries every year, and is associated with high rates of mortality and morbidity. It is a common disease in the elderly, accounting for more hospital admissions than any other diagnosis in patients over the age of 65. The prevalence of heart failure is rising dramatically with the aging of the US population. In addition, heart failure is associated with 20 to 30 percent of one-year mortality rates in the elderly and causes significant functional limitation. Estimates of annual expenditures on heart failure in the United States range from $10 billion to $40 billion. The National Heart Failure Project focuses on increasing the use of appropriate care processes to improve patient outcomes.

Additional information on the HF quality measures, including exclusion critera, is available on MedQIC. Click here to view the 22 core quality measures related to treatment of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), HF, pneumonia, and surgical patients.

The American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure (GWTG-HF) project is an in-hospital process to improve heart failure patient treatment and prevent future hospitalizations. GWTG-HF focuses on care team protocols to ensure that patients are treated and discharged on appropriate medications and with risk modification counseling. New Mexico hospitals may find participating in GWTG-HF can augment the success of ongoing quality improvement efforts related to heart failure.

For more information about heart failure, visit:

• National HF Project information
• American Heart Association
• American College of Cardiology
• Institute for Healthcare Improvement

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