Congestive heart failure patients are at high risk for hospital readmission.

A new treatment regimen for congestive heart failure patients in skilled nursing facilities reduced hospital admissions from 31% to 7% over seven months.

The “Hearts in Motion” protocol, designed by The Allure Group, was used with 150 residents at its five SNFs in New York.  Automated alerts notified cardiologists of significant changes in things such as renal function.

“Improving patient outcomes — reducing the number of readmissions — is the primary benefit of the new protocol. But not to be lost in this equation is how the protocol improves time and cost efficiency,” said Allure Group’s Jeffrey Bander, M.D.