According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), heart failure is emerging as a “new epidemic” in the United States.¹ As people live longer and more people with heart diseases survive, the number of people with heart failure grows. In the United States, it is estimated that 4.8 million people have heart failure, and 400,000 new cases are diagnosed every year.²  Half of the people diagnosed with congestive heart failure die within five years of diagnosis, and one in five dies within one year.³ Heart failure is the most frequent cause of hospitalization for people 65 and older.

Because heart failure is the most common Medicare diagnosis-related group, and more Medicare dollars are spent for the diagnosis and treatment of heart failure than for any other diagnosis, in 2002 it was identified by the JCAHO as a priority for hospital core measure development.

Performance Measures

At CKHS, an expert panel began looking at systems for treating and preventing heart failure in 2003. In 2004, heart failure was added to the Hospital Quality Alliance Initiative, and CKHS began reporting heart failure performance measures.

CKHS participates and publicly reports performance for the following measures:

Percent of patients given:

• Angiotension receptor blocker (ARB) for LVSD (left ventricular systolic dysfunction)
• Adult smoking cessation advice/counseling
• Assessment of left ventricular function
• Discharge instructions to patients 

1. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Data fact sheet. Congestive heart failure in the United Stated: A new epidemic. 1996. Bethesda, MD:  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

2. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Morbidity & mortality: 2002 chart book on cardiovascular, lung, and blood diseases. Bethesda, MD:  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2002.

3. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Data fact sheet. Congestive heart failure in the United Stated: A new epidemic. 1996. Bethesda, MD:  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Related Information

• Weber, Michael A., MD. “Angiotensin-II Receptor Blockers for Hypertension and Heart Failure: Quality of Life and Outcomes.” Managed Care Interface 2005 Feb;18(2):47-54.
  Abstract
  
  
• Hunt, Sharon Ann, MD, et al. ACC/AHA 2005 Guideline Update for the Diagnosis and Management of Chronic Heart Failure in the Adult: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines. 2005. (Writing Committee to Update the 2001 Guidelines for the Evaluation and Management of Heart Failure).
  Abstract (Note: click on the link at the bottom of the page, under "Guidelines."
  
  
• Jessup, Mariell, MD and Susan Brozena, MD. “Medical Progress: Heart Failure.” The New England Journal of Medicine 2003 May 15;348(20):2007-18.
  Abstract
  
  
• Nohria, Anju, MD, Eldrin Lewis, MD, and Lynne Warner Stevenson, MD. “Medical Management of Advanced Heart Failure.” Journal of the American Medical Association 2002 Feb 6;287(5):628-40.
  Abstract