Consensus Statement on Optimisation of Patient Care After Hospitalisation for Acute Heart Failure

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Clinical Practice Guidelines
• Pharmacotherapy

Background:

• Guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) is essential for acute heart failure (AHF) management.
• Australia faces challenges with suboptimal GDMT adherence in AHF patients.
• A need exists for unified recommendations to optimize GDMT in hospitalized AHF patients in Australia.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop consensus statements for optimizing GDMT in Australian AHF patients.
• To guide healthcare professionals in initiating and rapidly optimizing GDMT during and after hospitalization.
• To enhance current AHF guidelines and improve patient outcomes.

Main Methods:

• A modified DELPHI method was employed.
• An expert panel of nine Australian clinicians specializing in heart failure (HF) management was convened.
• Consensus statements were developed to guide GDMT optimization.

Main Results:

• Consensus statements were created to provide a practical framework for optimizing GDMT in AHF.
• The framework focuses on timely initiation of GDMT in-hospital and rapid dose optimization post-discharge.
• Emphasis is placed on early post-discharge follow-up to improve outcomes.

Conclusions:

• The developed consensus statements offer a strategy to enhance GDMT for hospitalized AHF patients in Australia.
• Optimizing GDMT rapidly is critical for reducing all-cause mortality and HF readmission risk.
• These statements aim to ensure eligible patients receive optimal therapy tailored to their presentation.