DESCRIPTIVE REPORT Congestive Heart Failure : A Disease Management Approach in Long - Term Care Patients

DESIGN: A disease management approach for heart failure based on guidelines from the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR). The key elements in this approach included program preparation, clinical education, protocol implementation, outcomes measurement, and continuous quality improvement. Specially trained consultant pharmacists received approval for the heart failure program from the administration and clinical staff at each long-term care facility and provided in-service programs for the nursing staff. Finally, recommendations were made to attending physicians to improve the pharmacotherapy for heart failure patients within the facility.