American Journal of Cardiology
Volume 102, Issue 12 , Pages 1693-1697 , 15 December 2008

Influence of Hospital Length of Stay for Heart Failure on Quality of Care

  • Mori J. Krantz, MD

      Affiliations

    • Cardiology Division, Denver Health Medical Center, Denver, Colorado
    • Colorado Prevention Center, Denver, Colorado
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author: Tel: 303-436-7818; fax: 303-436-7739
    • ,
  • Justin Tanner, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medicine, University of Colorado at Denver and the Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado
    • ,
  • Tamara B. Horwich, MD

      Affiliations

    • Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center, UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, California
    • ,
  • Clyde Yancy, MD

      Affiliations

    • Baylor Heart and Vascular Institute, Dallas, Texas
    • ,
  • Nancy M. Albert, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio
    • ,
  • Adrian F. Hernandez, MD

      Affiliations

    • Duke Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina
    • ,
  • David Dai, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Duke Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina
    • ,
  • Gregg C. Fonarow, MD

      Affiliations

    • Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center, UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, California
    • ,
  • Get With the Guidelines Steering Committee and Hospitals

Received 3 May 2008 ,Revised 5 August 2008 ,Accepted 5 August 2008.

References 

  1. Hunt SA, Abraham WT, Chin MH, Feldman AM, Francis GS, Ganiats TG, et al ACC/AHA 2005 guideline update for the diagnosis and management of chronic heart failure in the adult. Circulation. 2005;112:e154–e235
  2. The Cardiac Insufficiency Bisoprolol Study II (CIBIS-II): a randomised trial. Lancet. 1999;353:9–13
  3. Effect of metoprolol CR/XL in chronic heart failure: Metoprolol CR/XL Randomised Intervention Trial in Congestive Heart Failure (MERIT-HF). Lancet. 1999;353:2001–2007
  4. Packer M, Bristow MR, Cohn JN, Colucci WS, Fowler MB, Gilbert EM, et al. The effect of carvedilol on morbidity and mortality in patients with chronic heart failure. N Engl J Med. 1996;334:1349–1353
  5. Jong P, Yusuf S, Rousseau MF, Ahn SA, Bangdiwala SI. Effect of enalapril on 12-year survival and life expectancy in patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction: a follow-up study. Lancet. 2003;361:1843–1848
  6. LaBresh KA, Gliklich R, Liljestrand J, Peto R, Ellrodt AG. Using “Get With the Guidelines” to improve cardiovascular secondary prevention. Jt Comm J Qual Saf. 2003;29:539–550
  7. Krumholz HM, Parent EM, Vaccarino TV, Wang Y, Radord MJ, Hennen J. Readmission after hospitalization for congestive heart failure among Medicare beneficiaries. Arch Intern Med. 1997;157:99–104
  8. Krantz MJ, Havranek E, Haynes D, Smith I, Bucher-Bartelson B, Long CL. Effects of carvedilol on health outcomes in vulnerable heart failure patients: a randomized trial. J Card Fail. 2008;4:303–309
  9. Krum H, Roecker EB, Mohacsi P, Rouleau JL, Tendera M, Coats AJS, et al. Effects of initiating carvedilol in patients with severe chronic heart failure: results from the COPERNICUS Study. JAMA. 2003;289:712–718
  10. Fonarow GC, Abraham WT, Albert NM, Stough WG, Gheorghiade M, Greenberg BH, et al. Prospective evaluation of beta-blocker use at the time of hospital discharge as a heart failure performance measure: results from OPTIMIZE-HF. J Card Fail. 2007;722–731
  11. Fonarow GC, Abraham WT, Albert NM, Stough WG, Gheorghiade M, Greenberg BH, et al. Association between performance measures and clinical outcomes for patients hospitalized with heart failure. JAMA. 2007;297:61–70
  12. Kfoury AG, French TK, Horne BD, Rasmusson KD, Lappé DL, Rimmasch HL, et al. Incremental survival benefit with adherence to standardized heart failure core measures: a performance evaluation study of 2598 patients. J Card Fail. 2008;14:95–102
  13. Fonarow GC, Gawlinski A, Moughrabi S, Tillisch JH. Improved treatment of coronary heart disease by implementation of a Cardiac Hospitalization Atherosclerosis Management Program (CHAMP). Am J Cardiol. 2001;87:819–822
  14. LaBresh KA, Fonarow GC, Smith SC, Bonow RO, Smaha LC, Tyler PA, et al. Improved treatment of hospitalized coronary artery disease patients with the Get With The Guidelines Program. Crit Pathways Cardiol. 2007;6:98–105
  15. Butler J, Young JB, Abraham WT, Bourge RC, Adams KF, Clare R, et al. Beta-blocker use and outcomes among hospitalized heart failure patients. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2006;47:2462–2469
  16. Daugherty SL, Ho PM, Spertus JA, Jones PG, Bach RG, Krumholz HM, et al. Association of early follow-up after acute myocardial infarction with higher rates of medication use. Arch Intern Med. 2008;168:485–491
  17. Wuerz RC, Meador SA. Effects of prehospital medications on mortality and length of stay in congestive heart failure. Ann Emerg Med. 1992;21:669–674
  18. Southern WN, Berger MA, Bellin EY, Hailpern SM, Arnsten JW. Hospitalist care and length of stay in patients requiring complex discharge planning and close clinical monitoring. Arch Intern Med. 2007;167:1869–1874
  19. O'Mahony S, Mazur E, Charney P, Wang Y, Fine J. Use of multidisciplinary rounds to simultaneously improve quality outcomes, enhance resident education, and shorten length of stay. J Gen Intern Med. 2007;8:1073–1079
  20. Sayers SL, Hanrahan N, Kutney A, Clarke SP, Reis BF, Riegel B. Psychiatric comorbidity and greater hospitalization risk, longer length of stay, and higher hospitalization costs in older adults with heart failure. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2007;10:1585–1591
  21. Roytman MM, Thomas SM, Jiang CS. Comparison of practice patterns of hospitalists and community physicians in the care of patients with congestive heart failure. J Hosp Med. 2008;3:35–41
  22. Krantz MJ, Estacio RO, Mehler PS, Fonarow GC, Baker WA, Long CS. Comprehensive coronary artery disease care in a safety-net hospital: results of the Get With the Guidelines quality improvement initiative. J Manag Care Pharm. 2007;13:319–325

 The Get With the Guidelines Heart Failure Program was sponsored by the American Heart Association, Dallas, Texas, which received funding from GlaxoSmithKline, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

PII: S0002-9149(08)01392-1

doi: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2008.08.015

American Journal of Cardiology
Volume 102, Issue 12 , Pages 1693-1697 , 15 December 2008

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