Background: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) of the inferior vena cava (IVC) can help to noninvasively predict the effectiveness of treatment for volume-sensitive conditions, such as acute heart failure and shock. Recently POCUS-IVC has also been used to iteratively tailor fluid treatment to patient-specific targets. In real-world clinical settings, such iterative assessments are necessarily obtained by multiple [...]

Background: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) of the inferior vena cava (IVC) can help to noninvasively predict the effectiveness of treatment for volume-sensitive conditions, such as acute heart failure and shock. Recently POCUS-IVC has also been used to iteratively tailor fluid treatment to patient-specific targets. In real-world clinical settings, such iterative assessments are necessarily obtained by multiple [...]

Background: Involvement of a cardiologist in the care of hospitalized patients with a primary diagnosis of heart failure (HF) has been shown to improve outcomes and may affect their readmission rates. However, less is known about the patients admitted for a different reason who carry a secondary diagnosis of HF and the effect of cardiology [...]

Background: Research on post-discharge outpatient care often focuses on single types of encounters, such as primary care in-person appointments or primary care phone calls. However, patients interact with the healthcare system following discharge using a range of communication methods. This study seeks to examine the role of different types of post-discharge encounters on unplanned hospital [...]

Background: Acute heart failure (AHF) hospitalization is about one million hospital admissions per year and has tripled in the last 30 years in the United States. These illustrate the importance of recognizing early signs of AHF. Therefore, risk stratification can aid physicians in selecting appropriate evidence-based medical therapies. Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) is [...]

Background: Heart failure (HF) and atrial fibrillation (AF) share several risk factors including coronary artery disease, hypertension, smoking, obesity, diabetes, and renal disease, as well as common pathophysiologic pathway involving activation of the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system, maladaptive atrial remodeling and subsequent impaired conduction system. Some studies have supported the role of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) [...]

Background: Diastolic heart failure is an increasingly prevalent condition and has been shown in studies to be a prognostic indicator of future morbidity and all-cause mortality. Several interventions and novel therapeutic modalities have shown benefit in patients with diastolic heart failure with respect to improved mortality. Despite these studies, a comprehensive evaluation of outcomes and [...]

Background: Despite advances in treatment modalities, systolic heart failure carries a high risk of mortality. Several studies have shown that patients with systolic heart failure also experience frequent hospitalization. Although several medical and surgical intervention studies have examined mortality outcomes in patients with systolic heart failure, an in-depth analysis of outcomes of hospitalized systolic heart [...]

Background: Heart failure (HF) is one of the most common discharge diagnoses for Medicare beneficiaries. As part of the Affordable Care Act, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services initiated the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program which reduced payments to hospitals for excess readmissions for HF and other diseases. This quality improvement project focused not only [...]

Background: Anemia is common in patients with HF with a prevalence ranging from 10-40%. Studies have shown that these patients have worse outcomes compared to those who don’t. The most common etiology remains iron deficiency and the updated 2017 HF guidelines state that for those patients who are diagnosed with iron deficiency anemia, intravenous iron [...]