Research on Reducing Hospitalizations in Patients With Chronic Heart Failure

Chronic heart failure (CHF) patients are a growing population in the United States. Approximately 5.7 million people have been diagnosed with CHF. This disease process is a burden on the healthcare system and a major contributor to the rising healthcare costs in the United States today. CHF is a chronic condition characterized by a highly vulnerable population who experience frequent hospitalizations. Following are the summaries of four published articles related to managing CHF in the community. The first article examines the cost-effectiveness of nurse-led disease management for heart failure (HF) patients. The second article examines different levels of HF management programs and their effectiveness related to improved outcomes for HF patients. The third article attempts to determine whether telemonitoring or structured telephone support has any effect on the hospitalization rate for HF patient. The final article reviewed identifies factors that contribute to the rehospitalization of HF patients. For additional details, we suggest the reader go to the original articles.