Background
Heart Failure is the leading cause of hospitalization among seniors over 65 in the United States, accounting for over one million patients with a primary diagnosis of heart failure. Hospital readmission remain terribly high, with over 50 percent of patients being readmitted to the hospital within 6 months of their initial discharge. Medicare expenditures for these patients are approaching $20B annually.
Moreover, only 24 percent of eligible African Americans with heart failure receive the appropriate Standard of Care after being discharged from the hospital. Specifically, despite the fact that clinical guidelines sponsored by the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association include a Class 1A Recommendation to treat African Americans with heart failure with fixed dose isosorbide dinitrate and hydralazine, only 24 percent of eligible patients receive the treatment or either of its components. This finding is based on a 207-hospital study published in the 2013 Journal of the American Heart Association that looked at the years 2008 to 2012.
Next Steps
We call on all hospitals to recognize the devastating impact in terms of lives, and cost, that improperly treated Heart Failure accounts for in America, and to recommit themselves to providing all patients with the appropriate Standard of Care for their conditions. For many African-American patients, this means that we would like to see hospitals making a greater commitment to treating and discharging patients with fixed dose isosorbide dinitrate and hydralazine, pursuant to the guidelines.
Heart Failure is the leading cause of hospitalization among seniors over 65 in the United States, accounting for over one million patients with a primary diagnosis of heart failure. Hospital readmission remain terribly high, with over 50 percent of patients being readmitted to the hospital within 6 months of their initial discharge. Medicare expenditures for these patients are approaching $20B annually.
Moreover, only 24 percent of eligible African Americans with heart failure receive the appropriate Standard of Care after being discharged from the hospital. Specifically, despite the fact that clinical guidelines sponsored by the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association include a Class 1A Recommendation to treat African Americans with heart failure with fixed dose isosorbide dinitrate and hydralazine, only 24 percent of eligible patients receive the treatment or either of its components. This finding is based on a 207-hospital study published in the 2013 Journal of the American Heart Association that looked at the years 2008 to 2012.
Next Steps
We call on all hospitals to recognize the devastating impact in terms of lives, and cost, that improperly treated Heart Failure accounts for in America, and to recommit themselves to providing all patients with the appropriate Standard of Care for their conditions. For many African-American patients, this means that we would like to see hospitals making a greater commitment to treating and discharging patients with fixed dose isosorbide dinitrate and hydralazine, pursuant to the guidelines.
