e‐consults are asynchronous, clinician‐to‐clinician exchanges that answer focused, non‐urgent, patient‐specific questions using the electronic medical record. We instituted an e‐consultation programme (2013–2019) for all general practitioners (GPs) referrals to cardiologists that preceded patients' in‐person consultations when considered. In our study, we aimed to analyse the clinical characteristics, 1 year prognosis and the prognostic determinants of patients with a previous diagnosis of HF referred for an e‐consult, categorized by their previous HF‐related hospitalization status (recent hospitalization, <1 year before; remote hospitalization, >1 year before or never been hospitalized because of HF), and to analyse the impact of reducing the time elapsed between e‐consultation and response by the cardiologist in terms of prognosis.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/ehf2.14134

An electronic consultation program impacts on heart failure patients' prognosis: implications for heart failure care

The prevention of recurrent heart failure (HF) hospitalisations is of particular importance, as each such successive event may increase the risk of death. Effective care planning during the vulnerable phase after discharge is crucial for symptom control and improving patient prognosis. Many clinical trials have focused on telemedicine interventions in HF, with varying effects on the primary endpoints. However, the evidence of the effectiveness of telemedicine solutions in cardiology is growing. The scope of this review is to present complementary telemedicine modalities that can support outpatient care of patients recently hospitalised due to worsening HF. Remote disease management models, such as video (tele) consultations, structured telephone support, and remote monitoring of vital signs, were presented as core components of telecare. Invasive and non-invasive monitoring of volume status was described as an important step forward to prevent congestion—the main cause of clinical decompensation. The idea of virtual wards, combining these facilities with in-person visits, strengthens the opportunity for education and enhancement to promote more intensive self-care. Electronic platforms provide coordination of tasks within multidisciplinary teams and structured data that can be effectively used to develop predictive algorithms based on advanced digital science, such as artificial intelligence. The rapid progress in informatics, telematics, and device technologies provides a wide range of possibilities for further development in this area. However, there are still existing gaps regarding the use of telemedicine solutions in HF patients, and future randomised telemedicine trials and real-life registries are still definitely needed.

/pdf/digital-health-technologies-for-post-discharge-care-after-3fren35u.pdf

Digital Health Technologies for Post-Discharge Care after Heart Failure Hospitalisation to Relieve Symptoms and Improve Clinical Outcomes

Telehealth in Heart Failure.

Heart failure (HF), type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are some of the most important health problems of this century, and these three conditions often coexist, one worsening the prognosis of the other two. No disease is more important than the others in the composition of risk, which is significantly increased by their overlap. Thus, it would be more appropriate to refer to this cluster as cardio-nephro-metabolic syndrome. The aim of this review is to promote the development of an integrated multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of HF, T2DM and CKD in a perspective of paradigm shift from an individual management among different specialists to a shared one. Nowadays, this is achievable thanks to telemedicine and optimized therapy consisting in the new drugs with pleiotropic effect available today. The need is to have technological solutions, which also include telemedicine, for the management of patients affected by all three diseases to consider their fragility, sometimes due to a wrong, partial, or incomplete treatment. Multicentric, multidisciplinary trials on cardio-nephro-metabolic syndrome and new telemedicine/telemonitoring technologies could help place the chronic and fragile patient at the center of such multidimensionally integrated care. 

New paradigm for the management of cardio-nephro-metabolic syndrome: multidisciplinary approach and role of telemedicine

Telehealth: The Future of Consultations?

Aim Prevention of heart failure (HF) hospitalisations and deaths constitutes a major therapeutic aim in patients with HF. The role of telemedicine in this context remains equivocal. We investigated whether an outpatient telecare based on nurse-led non-invasive assessments supporting remote therapeutic decisions (AMULET telecare) could improve clinical outcomes in patients after an episode of acute HF during the12-month follow-up. Methods and results In this prospective randomised controlled trial, patients with HF and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤49%, after an episode of acute HF within recent 6 months, were randomly assigned to receive either an outpatient telecare based on nurse-led non-invasive assessments (n = 300) (AMULET model) or standard care (n = 305). The primary outcome, being a composite of unplanned HF hospitalisation or cardiovascular death, occurred in 51 (17.1%) patients in the telecare group and 73 (23.9%) patients in the standard care group up to 12 months after randomization (HR: 0.69, 95% CI: 0.48-0.99, p = 0.044). The implementation of AMULET telecare, as compared to the standard care, reduced the risk of first unplanned HF hospitalisation (HR: 0.62; 95% CI: 0.42-0.91, p = 0.015) as well as the risk of total unplanned HF hospitalisations (HR: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.41-0.99, p = 0.044).There was no difference in cardiovascular mortality between the study groups (HR: 1.03, 95% CI: 0.54-1.67, p = 0.930). Conclusion AMULET telecare as compared to standard care significantly reduced the risk of HF hospitalisation or cardiovascular death during the 12-month follow-up among patients with HF and LVEF≤49% after an episode of acute HF (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03476590).

Effects of an outpatient intervention comprising nurse-led non-invasive assessments, telemedicine support and remote cardiologists' decisions in patients with heart failure (AMULET Study): a randomised controlled trial

Piotr Gutknecht

Papers

Effects of an outpatient intervention comprising nurse-led non-invasive assessments, telemedicine support and remote cardiologists' decisions in patients with heart failure (AMULET Study): a randomised controlled trial