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Multidisciplinary disease-management programs for high-risk patients with heart failure improve short-term outcomes (HF; Journal Watch Cardiology Aug 5 2006). To characterize the longer-term impact of such programs, researchers analyzed outcomes of 297 hospitalized HF patients enrolled in either of two related randomized trials of a multidisciplinary, nurse-led, home-based intervention (plus usual HF care), compared with usual care alone. At baseline, the mean patient age was 75, the mean LV ejection fraction was 38%, and multimorbidity was common. The trials, conducted in Australia, had a minimum follow-up of 7.5 years.
The intervention involved an in-home evaluation, by a nurse and pharmacist or by a cardiac nurse, within 2 weeks after hos…