title: Heart failure management.
abstract: Patients with congestive heart failure consume a large portion of healthcare dollars. After the implementation of an outpatient inotropic infusion unit, case management, a restorative care pathway, and telemanagement at a community hospital, the number of hospital admissions, the inpatient length of stay, and overall costs decreased. At the same time, customer satisfaction and functional status increased. This article describes how the improved outcomes were accomplished.
authors.affiliation: Valley Baptist Medical Center, Harlingen, Texas, USA. pamwarner@vbmc.org
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Warner
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hutchinson
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D002316:Cardiotonic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019090:Case Management / Q000458:organization & administration; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000451:nursing / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D006699:Home Care Services; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006788:Hospitals, Voluntary / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007262:Infusions, Intravenous; D010346:Patient Care Management; D017064:Process Assessment, Health Care; D011788:Quality of Life; D013781:Texas
chemical_list: D002316:Cardiotonic Agents