Concurrent Care and Use of Advanced Cardiac Therapies for Hospitalized Veterans With Heart Failure

Concurrent care allows patients to receive hospice while continuing disease-directed therapies. This treatment model is available in the Veterans Administration (VA) medical system, but its use in Veterans with heart failure (HF) is unexplored.

To compare use of advanced HF therapies 30 days posthospitalization in Veterans on hospice versus not on hospice following admission for HF exacerbation.

We evaluated Veterans admitted for HF exacerbation to VA hospitals between Jan 2011 and June 2019 who received advanced HF therapies, hospice services, or both postdischarge. Concurrent care was defined as receiving both hospice services and advanced HF therapies. Demographics, comorbidities, and prior healthcare utilization were compared. Secondary outcomes included burdensome transitions and mortality.

Among 317,967 HF Veterans, 18,350 (5.8%) chose hospice posthospitalization. Only 58 hospice-enrolled Veterans (0.3%) received advanced HF therapies (i.e. concurrent care) within 30 days postdischarge. Of 299,617 Veterans not on hospice, 6,083 (2.0%) received advanced HF therapies (0.3% vs. 2.0%; P < 0.001). Veterans receiving concurrent care had higher six-month mortality than those receiving advanced HF therapies alone (77.6% vs. 14.9%, SMD 1.61). Hazard of burdensome transitions was similar (adjusted HR 1.44, 95% CI 0.95-2.17).

Veterans with HF receiving concurrent care were few and experienced higher mortality. Rate of burdensome transitions was similar between Veterans receiving concurrent care and those not on hospice. Further research may explore why Veterans infrequently utilize concurrent care at the end of life.