Palliative Care Reduces Hospital Readmission Rates for Heart Failure Patients

Abstract

Heart Failure patients need to make informed decisions about their medical treatment and be told how that treatment will affect their lives. Aggressive medical treatment may increase the number of days a heart failure patient lives, while decreasing the quality of life for those days. Palliative care focuses on the quality of a patient's life, and it is not hospice. A literature survey shows that offering palliative care to heart failure patients significantly reduces hospital readmission rates and drastically reduces the medical costs of heart failure patients. In spite of these benefits, less than three percent of US heart failure patients are offered palliative care. This paper surveys the literature on palliative care's effects on hospital readmission rates for heart failure patients, recommends that a palliative care information sheet be included in the discharge papers for all heart failure patients, and provides a sample information sheet that hospitals can adopt, improve, or adjust for their specific situation and populations.