Chronic Heart Failure Quality Improvement Workshop Series

Most patients with heart failure are managed by primary care physicians - approximately 10% of patients attend a specialist clinic. A common issue is that many patients are not optimized on all medical therapies, leading to poorer patient outcomes, as measured by quality of life, frequency of ER visits and hospitalizations, or earlier mortality. Last year, PLP launched a new, accredited, quality improvement workshop series on chronic heart failure, in partnership with the Edmonton Southside PCN and the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute. It features two workshops that will establish quality improvement initiatives using clinic data and tools developed with the project partners.

 

The spring 2021 pan-PCN workshop cohort completed the second workshop “Heart Failure in Primary Management and Referral", led by Dr. Justin Ezekowitz. At that event, 93 participants learned how to initiate and optimize the disease-modifying medications for patients with Heart Failure with reduced ejection fraction, and when and how to refer appropriate patients to cardiac rehab or palliative care services. The participants then worked with their QI teams to develop a team-based clinic approach for these patients.

 

Based on the program’s success and ongoing demand, we offered the workshops again in the spring of 2022. In this spread and scale activity, participants viewed the recording of the webinars, followed by a live, online, team-based quality improvement workshop, facilitated by the project’s quality improvement team in collaboration with our partners. Fourteen PCNs and AHS were represented in the workshop, where participants, had the opportunity to work in teams, using resources created by the project quality improvement team, to improve processes in the clinics to better manage patients with chronic heart failure.

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Participants noted some of the most effective parts of the program included the practical tips, the symptoms, signs, and diagnosis of heart failure, and the interactivity with the speaker and participants. One participant noted, "I am so impressed with this program! The information on managing heart failure and the advocacy you are encouraging is truly amazing".  

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These events were attended by 266 physicians and team members. The recording has been viewed more than 170 times by providers throughout Canada. ​