Congratulations to Jon Clifton, RN, CHPN, of the Inland Northwest Heart Failure Center of Excellence for his recent white paper, A Novel Approach to Reduce Congestive Heart Failure 30-Day Readmissions.
This paper was the result of a collaborative effort between Pulse Heart Institute and DispatchHealth to address the treatment of congestive heart failure patients with the goal of reducing 30-day hospital readmission rates. Together, Pulse and DispatchHealth were able to reduce readmission rates significantly below the national average of 25% to an unprecedented 6.82%.
Heart failure is a significant and growing problem in the United States, impacting the quality of life for millions of adults and it is expected to continue to increase. It is the most common cause of hospital readmissions among the elderly and Medicare patients. A solution to address this costly and debilitating disease would not only save billions of healthcare dollars and ease undue strain on hospitals but also significantly improve the lives of millions of patients and their families.
Understanding that improving a patient’s quality of life starts at home, Pulse Heart Institute’s clinical leadership acted on the success of prior DispatchHealth programs to create a new, heart failure-specific collaboration. At the direction and request of the institute, DispatchHealth clinicians, trained in emergency medicine, would start meeting patients at home with the necessary tools, technology and treatment to address their immediate needs.
Based on symptom parameters, patients understand when to contact the Pulse Heart Institute for help. After a detailed telephone triage, for any patient needing attention quicker than clinic availability, instead of sending them to the emergency room for support, DispatchHealth is engaged. DispatchHealth providers treat patients in need, on-demand and at home, seven days a week, 8 AM to 10 PM, including weekends and holidays.
Because of the collaboration and ability to reach patients needing time-sensitive treatments at home, Pulse Heart Institute cut its 30-day hospital readmission rate by more than 50%, down from an already impressive 15.87% to an unprecedented 6.82%. These unprecedented results offer a window into the potential for dramatically improving the lives of millions, both heart failure patients and their loved ones.
Read the full article, A Novel Approach to Reduce Congestive Heart Failure 30-Day Readmissions
For more information about Pulse Heart Institute and its preventative care programs, visit the Pulse website or call:
Inland Northwest 509-755-5500
Puget Sound Region 253-572-7320