Case study from Heart failure policy and practice in Europe

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TeleCare North Heart Failure Trial

17 November, 2020

The TeleCare North Heart Failure Trial, which was conducted in the North Denmark Region in 2016–17, examined the benefits of a nurse-led telemedicine intervention compared with routine care.1

The programme provided education on heart failure to participants, who received the equipment necessary for self-monitoring at home, including devices to measure pulse rate and blood pressure, and a tablet for communication with their care team.2 3 Self-care was supervised by hospital staff, who responded to any signs of heart failure exacerbation, ensuring rapid adjustment of medication in order to avoid hospital admission. The intervention aimed to facilitate transparent and patient-centred collaboration between people living with heart failure, their families and healthcare professionals across care settings. The overall goal was to support self-monitoring and care adherence.

The programme achieved a 35% reduction in annual healthcare costs per person living with heart failure, mainly due to a decrease in hospitalisations.2

References

  1. Cichosz SL, Ehlers LH, Hejlesen O. 2016. Health effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of telehealthcare for heart failure: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials 17(1): 590
  2. Vestergaard AS, Hansen L, Sørensen SS, et al. 2020. Is telehealthcare for heart failure patients cost-effective? An economic evaluation alongside the Danish TeleCare North heart failure trial. BMJ Open 10(1): e031670
  3. Healthcare Denmark. 2018. Denmark – a telehealth nation. Available from: https://www.healthcaredenmark.dk/media/r2rptq5a/telehealth-v1.pdf [Accessed 15/07/20]

 

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The Heart Failure Policy Network is an independent, multidisciplinary platform made possible with financial support from AstraZeneca and Roche Diagnostics. The content produced by the Network is not biased toward any specific treatment or therapy. All outputs are guided and endorsed by the Network’s members. All members provide their time for free. The Network is hosted by The Health Policy Partnership .