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- Title
Outpatient Congestive Heart Failure Surveillance Program.
- Authors
Sieben, J.; Reed, L.
- Abstract
The Calgary Peter Lougheed Cardiac Function Clinic is a nurse clinician-led outpatient service for patients with congestive heart failure. We see upwards of 175 patients and have implemented a report card surveillance program. This is used in our clinic for both quality of care improvement and to reinforce patient-led symptom management. The report card is an easy-to-read 17-part questionnaire assessing heart failure symptoms. We send this questionnaire to patients via mail every three to four months and use it to streamline clinic visits by having them complete it before seeing the nurse or doctor. The questionnaire indicates by colour the status of symptoms; red (meaning has new or worsening symptoms), yellow (unchanged from patient norms), and green (better or no symptoms). We would like to highlight how this report card surveillance program helps the patient easily identify those symptoms that require more immediate attention and also helps in the long-term management of heart failure. Our goal is to link the program with a decreased exacerbation of this difficult-to -manage patient population. In essence, the heart failure report card program works to streamline patient services and is used as a powerful patient teaching tool. In the future, we would like to develop this program online, or as a smart phone app. Our team will showcase how the implementation of a surveillance program in the outpatient population will increase patient accountability and, ultimately, increase primary disease prevention.
- Subjects
ALBERTA; HEART failure; HOSPITAL health promotion programs; PUBLIC health surveillance
- Publication
Canadian Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 2016, Vol 26, Issue 3, p7
- ISSN
0843-6096
- Publication type
Article