The effect of extended heart failure Audit and Feedback on cardiovascular hospitalizations in general practice: a randomized controlled trial

Heart failure (HF) is a prevalent disease affecting 1-3% of the general population and up to 20% of patients aged 80 and older. HF has a large impact on morbidity, mortality and quality of life. On top of the clinical and epidemiological impact, it also has an important economic impact, largely because of frequent (re)hospitalizations. Optimizing the early and adequate identification of HF in general practice, leads to an earlier start of treatment and reduces the risk of hospitalization. However, identifying patients with HF in general practice is challenging since symptoms and signs are non-specific, particularly in elderly patients. Additionally, under-diagnosis and under-registration, as well as over-diagnosis was observed. Based on a systematic review on methods to identify HF patients in general practice an extended clinical Audit was developed and implemented in the GPs’ electronic health record (EHR) to optimize the early and adequate identification of HF. We studied the feasibility of the extended Audit and found a 62% increase in identified HF patients. Therefore, we want to study the effect of heart failure Audit and feedback on cardiovascular hospitalizations in general practice through a randomized controlled trial (RCT).

Keywords:heart failure

Disciplines:Public health care, Public health sciences, Public health services, Education curriculum