Date of Award
4-2020
Document Type
Project Paper
Degree Name
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
Department
Nursing
Program Affiliation
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
First Advisor
Dr. Mary Rivard
Abstract
Heart failure (HF) is a progressive disease in which the heart is unable to pump enough blood to support the body’s vital functions. Recent projections estimate that by the year 2030 the number of HF patients will increase by 46%, resulting in an increased financial strain on the health care system. In response to increasing health care costs the Hospital Re-Admission Reduction Program (HRRP) was implemented. The goal of the HRRP is to improve the quality of patient care by linking defined parameters of quality of patient care to the payment/reimbursement of health care providers and hospitals. A rural northern Minnesota health care organization’s cardiology department, strategic goal was initiated to improve the care of HF patients and reduce re-admission rates to avoid costly penalties. A pilot project was implemented to evaluate the effectiveness of an interdisciplinary heart failure patient management algorithm. A pretest/posttest design was utilized to compare HF re-admission rates before and after implementation of the algorithm. Additional quality measures pertaining to the algorithm evaluated compliance to the algorithm. RESULTS: Re-admission rates during the 60-day time frame increased 1.1% after implementation of the algorithm. Data from the algorithm quality measures which met goals were patients received education and symptom log (81.7 %) and the institution of guideline directed therapy (100%) were all met. Completion of the Self-Care of Heart Failure Index (37.5%) did not meet the defined performance goal. The pilot project increased awareness of the significance of improving care of HF patients within this rural organization. Information gained from the project assisted leadership in developing future strategic planning related to HF quality improvement initiatives including utilizing flowsheets within the electronic medical record to track quality measures.
Recommended Citation
Whiting, Lindsey, "Improvement in Heart Failure Management Through Implementation of an Interdisciplinary Algorithm to Reduce 30 Day Hospital Re-admission" (2020). Nursing Capstones. 374.
https://commons.und.edu/nurs-capstones/374