Cardiovascular Disease, Heart Failure: Key Messages
- There is strong evidence that home telehealth can lead to short-term improvement in functional status. Research into long-term outcomes is insufficient.
- Several strongly designed studies have shown that home telehealth has the potential to reduce mortality significantly more than usual care. However, many others – also strongly designed – have found that home telehealth had no significant effect on mortality rates. We recommend that decision makers examine the interventions that did achieve reductions in mortality and give careful consideration to the transferability of these findings to their own work environment.
- Patient acceptance and uptake are generally high, regardless of patient age. However, one study reported a sharp decline in uptake over time.
- There is strong evidence that home telehealth interventions can be significantly more effective than usual care in improving disease-related knowledge and symptom distress.
- Home telehealth for heart failure can be difficult for providers to incorporate into their workflow. Specific challenges include frustration with technical failures, increased workload, steep learning curves, and management of care coordination.
- Some studies find significant reductions in hospitalizations among patients using home telehealth. However,there is no evidence that home telehealth increases emergency services use.
Posted in Cardiovascular Disease: Heart Failure, Key Messages | Tagged with
The last bullet: is it meant to read that “there is no evidence that home telehealth decreases emergency services use” or is “increases” correct?