Impact of a Home Telehealth Heart Failure Outpatient Order Set on Veteran Hospitalizations

Abstract

Congestive heart failure (CHF) admissions are above the national Veterans Affairs (VA) benchmark at a large health care facility serving Veterans in Western North Carolina (WNC) The VA has outpatient home services, including telehealth, that can manage CHF patients and avoid hospitalizations This project updated the home telehealth (HT) consultation form to include blood pressure and target weight range goals for Veterans with CHF in the outpatient setting. After the intervention HT received fewer consults and only 9% of the forms included weight and blood pressure goals It was discovered that registered nurses can place CHF consultations to HT which increases patient access to care Providers and nurses need education regarding establishing CHF blood pressure and target weight goals to improve CHF care for Veterans