Hospice care for heart failure patients.

Although approximately 260,000 persons die annually in the United States (USA) with heart failure (HF), HF patients infrequently receive hospice care. Patients with refractory symptoms of HF at rest despite optimal medical therapy (Stage D) have less than a one-year survival1,2 and American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology guidelines recommend hospice care as an option for this population. Yet the number referred to hospice is relatively