The outcome was the development of three sets of patient empowerment and engagement tools: to manage heart failure, to learn more about heart failure, and to connect with others for support with heart failure. As an ongoing effort, IMPLEMENT-HF is a three-year initiative that aims to transform HF care in seven regions: Chicago, Kansas City, Milwaukee, New Jersey, eastern rural North Carolina, Philadelphia, and St. Louis. The patient engagement approach aims to elevate patient-prioritized outcomes for shared decision-making by focusing on three areas: condition education, self-management skills, and peer and resource support.
Problem: For many heart failure (HF) patients, the condition presents challenges in managing lifestyle, medications, finances, and understanding their clinical condition. The rising prevalence of HF and poor clinical outcomes provide opportunities for improvement. Engaging patients as informed participants across the care continuum offer an opportunity for increased adherence to evidence-based clinical guidelines
Measurement: Measurement includes quality of life scores, pre and post-questionnaires measuring sustained or improved confidence in participation as a member of the health care team, and utilization of a mobile application to track relevant heart failure health actions
Analysis: The analysis considers both process and outcome considerations, which modalities help patients with heart failure develop and maintain necessary self-management behaviors, and which modalities were most beneficial in sustaining the engagement of patients with health management
Implementation: We implemented a mobile, self-management app used for tracking daily symptoms, medications, and vitals, as well as a number of other digital and print tools, including a clinical discussion guide. The primary obstacle was developing use-case models for hospitals and clinics to incorporate the resources into patient education workflows
