What Amedisys Is Doing For Its Heart Failure Patients

Each year in February, we pause to observe American Heart Month, an observance dedicated to educating the public about cardiovascular disease, the nation’s top killer of both men and women. According to the American Heart Association, nearly 128 million Americans are living with cardiovascular disease. ¹ Around 6.7 million of those over the age of 20 are living with heart failure (HF), and that number is expected to rise. ²
At Amedisys, we offer a home health Heart Failure Program—an interdisciplinary empowerment program which is our standard of care for eligible home health patients with a diagnosis of HF. Under the program, our clinicians step in to educate—and ultimately empower—patients and their families to manage their condition at home, maintaining wellness and fostering independence.

In the process, patients are coached and motivated to take on a wide range of responsibilities. They set personal goals, regularly weigh themselves, monitor their symptoms, stay alert for warning signs, and document progress on a handy checklist that enables them to communicate more effectively with their physician. Most importantly, patients and family members learn what to do when they see symptoms.

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Ways to Treat Heart Failure at Home

Along with the Heart Failure Program, which can result in lower hospital readmission rates, improved functional status and decreased shortness of breath, there are steps patients can take at home (with physician guidance) to help them improve quality of life: ³

• Performing daily weight checks—sudden weight gain (2 pounds in one day or 5 pounds in one week) can indicate worsening heart failure. ⁴
• Monitoring blood pressure for changes
• Limiting salt intake—based on physician recommendations
• Taking all medications prescribed
• Tracking fluid intake
• Quitting smoking
• Getting enough rest
• Reporting symptoms such as increased weight gain, worsening cough, shortness of breath with activity, increased swelling, needing more pillows to sleep, confusion or impaired thinking and increased heart rate or irregular heartbeat.
  

Heart Failure Empowerment

For eligible home health patients, the Amedisys Heart Failure program includes:

• Clinical protocols focused on improved outcomes
• An interdisciplinary approach to care
• Emphasis on patient engagement and empowerment
• Encouraging life style changes, including increased exercise and activity

Overall, heart health at home is supported by providing patient teaching for other diagnoses as well – heart attack, hypertension, hypotension, coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), arrhythmias, hypotension and other cardiac conditions.

Heart failure program patients are empowered to manage living with their chronic condition through lifestyle changes, personalization, education, intervention, prevention and service, delivered in the comfort of home.

What does this look like in action? Recently, a patient in the program gained three pounds in a single day, signaling possible fluid retention and worsening heart failure. The patient’s wife, who had gone through the Heart Failure Program and received our patient education booklet, knew to call the care center immediately.

In response to scenarios like these, Amedisys clinicians are enabled by our Heart Failure ER Diversion Protocol, a set of physician orders that are designed to guide effective care with specific nursing interventions. Following this protocol, they quickly contacted the family’s primary care physician, who ordered medication for the patient and a skilled-nursing visit to his home. His nurse also drew labs and helped the patient make an appointment with his physician. Within two days, the patient had lost eight pounds, avoiding a visit to the emergency room and possible readmission to the hospital, enabling him to stay at home. Crisis averted. 

Better Outcomes with Targeted Heart Failure Care

Making sure eligible home health patients with heart failure receive focused support—like the Amedisys Heart Failure program—leads to stronger outcomes. We have invested in making the program standard across all of our home health care centers because we know that empowering both clinicians and patients with the knowledge to manage heart failure better improves health and quality of life. In one study, this kind of targeted heart failure care resulted in a 44% reduced risk of emergency visits. ⁵ 

Are you ready to learn more about home health and heart failure care? You can take our short home health care quiz to learn more about your eligibility, or contact a care center near you to speak with a specialist.

TeRonna Hall, BSN, RN, CCP, serves as a Clinical Content Development Specialist at Amedisys. With 36 years of healthcare experience, including 34 years in home health, she is dedicated to educating others on health-related topics.