title: [Effectiveness of an outpatient disease management programme for chronic heart insufficiency patients].
abstract: The effectivity of a disease management programme (DMP) for outpatients suffering from chronic heart insufficiency (CHI) in primary care is presented. The programme is predominantly based on a weekly telephone monitoring by a case manager using a standardised questionnaire that scores CHI-relevant information of the patient. If the score exceeds a predefined limit the patient's general practitioner is alarmed. An observational study including a total of 115 patients indicates a significant decline of the hospital admission rate (p < 0.0001), as the primary outcome measure, whereas the total length of hospitalization remained constant. The findings are compared with other studies' results and the aims of a randomised controlled trial on the efficacy of DMP on patients with chronic heart failure are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Allgemeinmedizin, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf. bussche@uke.uni-hamburg.de
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: van den Bussche
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Steinberg
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: von Brandis
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sperber
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008487:Medical History Taking / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data