Advanced Heart Care at Home

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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End-of-life (EOL) care for heart failure (HF) patients includes high healthcare utilization and costs, in part due to the lack of integration of optimal HF management and home-based palliative care. In a pilot quality improvement project of clinician nudges to enroll seriously ill HF patients in a home-based, integrated HF and palliative care platform, the investigators demonstrated decreased healthcare utilization and costs and increased hospice utilization among seriously ill HF patients. The investigators propose a pragmatic randomized trial for clinicians of seriously ill HF patients admitted to three University of Pennsylvania Health System Hospitals, randomly assigning an opt-in approach (usual care) versus a nudge or opt-out approach of a visit from an Advanced Heart Care at Home (AHCAH) liaison to clinicians of eligible patients to discuss and enroll in the AHCAH program, to rigorously and scientifically evaluate clinical, utilization, and cost outcomes among high-risk HF patients at the EOL, and to promote physician uptake of best practices.

Official Title
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Advanced Heart Care at Home (AHCAH); a Pragmatic Randomized Trial for Clinicians Nudged to AHCAH, a Heart Failure Specific Home Palliative Care Services

Conditions
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Palliative Care, Heart Failure, Health Care Utilization, Quality Improvement

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: Clinician nudge or opt out approach for AHCAH liaison visit


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: At least 18 years of age Reside within Caring Way's geographic catchment Heart Failure ICD code from any previous healthcare encounter (inpatient or outpatient) in the 12 months prior to index hospitalization Admitted to a cardiology or hospitalist service Palliative Connect score greater than 0.3 Index hospitalization during study period Exclusion Criteria: Less than 18 years of age Pregnant women Incarcerated patients Homeless patients Reside outside of Caring Way's geographic catchment Patients without an identifiable primary physician for AHCAH staff to communicate with as determined by the AHCAH liaison via EPIC Prior hospitalization during study period

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| No Intervention: Control<br>Usual Care | |
| Experimental: AHCAH Nudge<br>The investigators have developed methods for sending nudges to clinicians via secure text messages to primary teams to alert them that their patient was identified as high-risk for 6-month mortality and that an AHCAH liaison would visit their patient to discuss the AHCAH program and to facilitate enrollment if the patient was amenable. The investigators propose that these secure text messages would be sent to the teams of patients randomized to the intervention by the AHCAH liaison within 72 hours of eligibility identification (to allow for the liaison not being available over the weekend). The investigator team will track all aspects of messaging and timing. Clinicians can choose to opt out a patient from the liaison visit and AHCAH enrollment within a two-hour timeframe. | Other: Clinician nudge or opt out approach for AHCAH liaison visit<br>* This study is a nudge or opt-out approach of an AHCAH liaison visit to eligible seriously ill HF patients prior to hospital discharge to discuss the AHCAH program and to subsequently facilitate enrolling them in the AHCAH program if they are amenable, compared to the opt-in approach (usual care).<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Acute care days | number of hospitalization days in the University of Pennsylvania Health System | 6-12 months | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Mortality | number of patient deaths after enrollment in AHCAH | 6-12 months | 
| Hospice enrollment | number of patients who transition from AHCAH to hospice | 6-12 months | 
| hospice length of service | If transitioned to hospice from AHCAH, number of days on hospice | 6-12 months | 
| University of Pennsylvania Health System total acute care cost | cost of emergency department visit and/or hospitalization within the UPHS Health system | 6-12 months | 
| Pennsylvania total acute care cost | cost of emergency department visit and/or hospitalization within Pennsylvania | 6-12 months | 
| University of Pennsylvania Health System number of intensive care unit days | number of days hospitalized in an intensive care unit within UPHS | 6-12 months | 
| Pennsylvania number of intensive care unit days | number of days hospitalized in an intensive care unit within hospitals in Pennsylvania | 6-12 months | 
| University of Pennsylvania Health System emergency department visits | number of emergency department visits within UPHS | 6-12 months | 
| Pennsylvania emergency department visits | number of emergency department visits within hospitals in Pennsylvania | 6-12 months | 
| Use of intravenous diuretics at home | Prescription and delivery of intravenous diuretics from Penn Home Infusion Therapy Services and administration of intravenous diuretics by AHCAH nurse | 6-12 months | 
| new documentation of goals of care | Advance Care Planning documentation within electronic medical record | 6-12 months |