Background In recent years, there has been an emphasis on multidisciplinary team (MDT) care of the heart failure (HF) patient. A dedicated HF MDT was created on the 1stof January… Click to show full abstract
Background In recent years, there has been an emphasis on multidisciplinary team (MDT) care of the heart failure (HF) patient. A dedicated HF MDT was created on the 1stof January 2017 at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi; consisting of HF cardiologists, clinical pharmacists and HF nurses. This study aims to assess the impact of a dedicated HF MDT on the mortality, length of stay and readmission rate in patients who are admitted with acute HF decompensation. Methods A retrospective review of the patients’ charts was conducted. We identified patients who were admitted for acute exacerbation of HF between the years 2015 and 2017. Group 1 consisted of 90 patients who were admitted prior to the creation of the HF MDT, while Group 2 consisted of 94 patients who were admitted after the establishment of the team. The groups were propensity-matched in order to account for any confounding variables between the two patient populations. Results Table 1 shows the baseline characteristics on admission of patients in both Group 1 and Group 2. The majority of patients in both groups had HFrEF. There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of the baseline characteristics outlined. Table 2 highlights the differences in outcomes between the two groups. After the establishment of the HF MDT, there was a significant decrease in the 30 day readmission rate (25.84 % vs 5.98 %, P Conclusions Management of patients with HF by a dedicated HF MDT in the inpatient and outpatient setting results in a significant reduction in morbidity; with reduced 30-day readmission rates, length of stay in hospital, number of days for follow up post-discharge and the need for inotropic support.
               
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