REDUCING HOSPITAL READMISSIONS FOR CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE PATIENTS: A QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROJECT IN A HOME HEALTH AGENCY

ECU Author/Contributor (non-ECU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)

Jennifer Mazurek (Creator)

Institution

East Carolina University (ECU )

Web Site: http://www.ecu.edu/lib/

Abstract: "The cost of care for congestive heart failure (CHF) patients can be greatly reduced by utilizing home health services. However , baseline data analyzed on initial chart review of patients admitted to one local home health agency showed that interventions were not preventing rehospitalization within 30 days of hospital discharge. A gap in management of CHF patients was identified at the home health agency. Utilization of an evidence-based tool by clinical staff to instruct CHF patients on self-managing their care needed to be incorporated into the existing Pulmonary Disease Program (PDP). This quality improvement project sought to address this gap by integrating the evidence-based tool ""Self-Check Plan for HF Management€. The outcome measurements evaluated were improvements in clinical staff adherence using this tool. The Plan-Do-Study-Act model was used to guide and evaluate the change process. Results showed that clinical staff improved adherence by 14% in teaching CHF patients at the initial visit using the tool. Clinical staff adding the tool onto the plan of care for CHF patients improved by 10%. Furthermore , a 23% improvement in clinical staff adherence was demonstrated with documentation that the tool was reviewed at the next follow-up visit. Therefore , clinical staff were prepared to continue utilizing a tool as part of their new Cardiopulmonary Disease Program (CDP) once it was integrated into the home health agency."

Additional Information

Publication

Other

Language: English

Date: 2019

Keywords

congestive heart failure, readmissions, home health care

Subjects

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