Heart failure (HF) remains one of the leading diagnoses among hospitalized patients aged 65 years and older in the United States.1  Despite advances in both medical and device therapies for treating HF, the mortality rate within 5 years of the initial diagnosis remains greater than 50%.2  In 2012, costs for treating HF were an estimated $30.7 billion annually. Projected costs are estimated to be $69.7 billion by the year 2030.3  The monetary cost for care is exorbitant, but so are the physical and emotional costs for patients, their families, and the community providing health care to reduce the cycle of readmissions to the hospital because of HF.

Hospital readmission for HF, as defined by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 2013 Measure Methodology Report, is essentially a return admission to a hospital, for any cause, within 30 days of discharge from a prior HF-related hospitalization.4...

You do not currently have access to this content.