Heart failure clinics: organization, development, and experiences

The number of patients with heart failure is continuously increasing in wes tern society. and the cost of hospitalizations causes a major financial bur den on the health care system. Many patients do not receive a correct diagn osis, and only a minority have an optimized medication according to guideli nes. Information and education are poor in heart failure patients, leading to an increased number of readmissions due to low compliance. Because of al l these problems in treating patients with heart failure, it is justified t o build special heart failure clinics led by nurses and doctors to verify d iagnosis, optimize treatment. and improve information and education for pat ients and family members. This review presents the current status of heart failure units. (C) 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Inc.