Overall , telemedicine was shown to be beneficial , with home-based teletransmission effectively reducing all-cause mortality and HF-related hospital admission , length of stay and mortality in patients with HF
Telemedicine interventions may be associated with reductions in hospital admission rate and mortality in patients with heart failure ( HF ) .
Case management in a heterogeneous congestive heart failure population: a randomized controlled trial.
BACKGROUND Both r and omized and nonr and omized controlled studies have linked congestive heart failure ( CHF ) case management ( CM ) to decreased readmissions and improved outcomes in mostly homogeneous setting s. The objective of this r and omized controlled trial was to test the effect of CHF CM on the 90-day readmission rate in a more heterogeneous setting . METHODS A total of 287 patients admitted to the hospital with the primary or secondary diagnosis of CHF , left ventricular dysfunction of less than 40 % , or radiologic evidence of pulmonary edema for which they underwent diuresis were r and omized . The intervention consisted of 4 major components : early discharge planning , patient and family CHF education , 12 weeks of telephone follow-up , and promotion of optimal CHF medications . RESULTS The 90-day readmission rates were equal for the CM and usual care groups ( 37 % ) . Total inpatient and outpatient median costs and readmission median cost were reduced 14 % and 26 % , respectively , for the intervention group . Patients in the CM group were more likely to be taking CHF medication at target doses , but dosages did not increase significantly throughout 12 weeks . Although both groups took their medications as prescribed equally well , the rest of the adherence to treatment plan was significantly better in the CM group . Subgroup analysis of patients who lived locally and saw a cardiologist showed a significant decrease in CHF readmissions for the intervention group ( P = .03 ) . CONCLUSIONS These results suggest several limitations to the generalizability of the CHF CM-improved outcome link in a heterogeneous setting . One explanation is that the lack of coordinated system supports and varied accessibility to care in an extended , nonnetworked physician setting limits the effectiveness of the CM
Overall , telemedicine was shown to be beneficial , with home-based teletransmission effectively reducing all-cause mortality and HF-related hospital admission , length of stay and mortality in patients with HF
Telemedicine interventions may be associated with reductions in hospital admission rate and mortality in patients with heart failure ( HF ) .