ED Management of Heart Failure

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION Each year in the United States, nearly 1 million patients present to the emergency department (ED) with heart failure (HF), usually after a delay of several days, if ...

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Each year in the United States, nearly 1 million patients present to the emergency department (ED) with heart failure (HF), usually after a delay of several days, if not weeks, from the onset of symptoms. More than 800,000 of these patients are then admitted to the hospital, although recent evidence suggests that as many as half of that population could safely be discharged from the ED after a brief observation period. The challenge for clinicians, particularly ED physicians and hospitalists, is how to identify those patients who are candidates for release to an observation unit or for discharge to home without increasing the risk of readmission or death. In part 1 of this 2-part webcast, 3 experts—an ED physician, a hospitalist, and a cardiologist—discuss optimal approaches to management of acutely worsening HF.

EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES
After completing the activity, the participant should be better able to:Accurately assess risk at triage (high, low, uncertain, or mortality risk) when patients present to the emergency department with worsening symptoms of heart failureInform decision making on whether to hospitalize the patient, admit to the observation unit, or discharge and continue treatment from home

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