SHM Converge Scientific Abstract ePoster Gallery-Hearts in It: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Heart Failure Standardization

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Northwell Health describes itself as New York State’s largest health care provider and private employer, committed to improving community health through high-quality care, medical education, research, and access regardless of ability to pay. Its system includes 23 hospitals, more than 700 outpatient facilities, and over 13,600 affiliated physicians.<br /><br />The document then presents a quality initiative titled “Hearts in It: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Heart Failure Standardization.” The project addresses the high burden of heart failure (HF), a major cause of hospitalization, readmission, and mortality. Because guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) improves outcomes, the team sought to standardize inpatient HF care and improve collaboration among hospitalists, cardiologists, nurses, pharmacists, case managers, and advanced practice providers.<br /><br />Key interventions included:<br />- Cohorting heart failure patients to a dedicated advanced heart failure unit under hospitalist care.<br />- Adding the heart failure team to daily afternoon interdisciplinary huddles.<br />- Creating an EMR “smart phrase” to remind hospitalists to review EF, daily weight, and use the HF order set.<br />- Providing education to hospitalists on GDMT initiation and titration.<br /><br />Cohorting began in June 2023, while daily huddles began in May 2023. Eligible patients were identified from the ED, ICU, CCU, and other floors and coordinated with bed management.<br /><br />Reported outcomes included reduced ED/case needs for patients with prolonged stays, increased compliance with the HF order set, higher prescribing of beta blockers and SGLT2 inhibitors, and improved HCAHPS patient experience scores, especially around communication, discharge planning, medications, and care transitions. Overall, the initiative improved teamwork, standardization, and patient satisfaction while strengthening adherence to best-practice HF care.

Asset Subtitle

Lily L. Yung

Meta Tag

Author List Charles Kast, Lauren Cooper, Lily L. Yung, Lois Shallow, Nicole Ellerbe

Category Innovations

Concept Multidisciplinary Quality Initiative

Concept Heart Failure Inpatient Care

Concept Guideline-Directed Medical Therapy

Concept Order Set Compliance

Concept Guideline-Directed Medical Therapy Prescribing

Distinguished Non-Finalist

Presenter Organization North Shore University Hospital

Presenting Author Lily L. Yung

Track Quality Improvement

Keywords

Northwell Health

heart failure

GDMT

hospitalization

readmission

multidisciplinary care

care standardization

interdisciplinary huddles

beta blockers

SGLT2 inhibitors

Multidisciplinary Quality Initiative

Heart Failure Inpatient Care

Guideline-Directed Medical Therapy

Order Set Compliance

Guideline-Directed Medical Therapy Prescribing