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 ) .
Heart failure management: multidisciplinary care has intrinsic benefit above the optimization of medical care.
PURPOSE This work addresses the unanswered question of whether multidisciplinary care ( MDC ) of heart failure ( HF ) can reduce readmissions when optimal medical care is applied in both intervention and control groups . METHODS In a r and omized , controlled study , 98 patients ( mean age , 70.8 + /- 10.5 years ) admitted to hospital with left ventricular failure ( New York Heart Association Class IV ) were assigned to routine care ( RC , n = 47 ) or MDC ( n = 51 ) . All patients received the same components of inpatient , optimal medical care of HF : specialist-led inpatient care ; titration to maximum tolerated dose of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor before discharge ; attainment of predetermined discharge criteria ( weight stable , off all intravenous therapy , and no change in oral regimen for 2 days ) . Only those in the MDC group received inpatient and outpatient education and close telephone and clinic follow-up . The primary study endpoint was rehospitalization or death for a HF-related issue at 3 months . MAIN FINDINGS At 3 months , four people had events in the MDC group ( 7.8 % rate over 3 months ) compared with 12 people ( 25.5 % rate over 3 months ) in the RC group ( P = 0.04 ) . CONCLUSION These data demonstrate for the first time the intrinsic benefit of MDC in the setting of protocol -driven , optimal medical management of HF . Moreover , the event rate of 7.8 % at 3 months , as the lowest reported rate for such a high-risk group , underlines the value of this approach to the management of heart failure
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 ) .