Electronic Health Record-leveraged, Patient-centered, Intensification of Chronic Care for HF

Multiple medications improve left ventricular remodeling, quality of life, and survival in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Unfortunately, the real-world use of HFrEF medications is suboptimal, particularly for more recently approved agents such as aldosterone antagonists. The introduction of sacubitril/valsartan and ivabradine add to already complex HFrEF treatment regimens. Without novel mechanisms to improve medication use, the benefits of advances in HF treatment will be largely unrealized.

Efforts to optimize HFrEF medication delivery have focused primarily on 1) provider decision support around prescribing and 2) patient education around adherence. An important gap is the failure to empower patients to engage more directly in HFrEF prescribing efforts. Patients have a direct stake in making sure they are getting efficacious treatments, want to be involved in decisions about their treatments, and if engaged are more likely to adhere to them. Direct-to-consumer marketing and proliferation of shared decision making reflect a culture where patients are increasingly involved in medication prescribing.

Within this context, the American Heart Association (AHA) has funded four centers across the United States to examine ways in which heart failure treatment and prevention may be optimized. The University of Colorado, Denver is one of these sites; The Development and Trial of an Electronic health record-leveraged, Patient-centered, Intensification of Chronic care for Heart Failure Tool (EPIC-HF) is the population-focused arm of study. Inspired by the gap in HFrEF medication optimization, this study aims to develop a patient-centered intervention in order to 1) activate and engage patients with HFrEF in their prescribing regimen, 2) empower them to initiate discussions with their provider about ways in which their medication plan could be improved, which will result in 3) a superior HFrEF medication plan. The investigators modeled this tool with the previous success of flipped classrooms and patient empowerment initiatives in mind. The intervention was iteratively developed with the input of both clinician and patient stakeholders, and is innovative in its emphasis on patient self-actualization and role as an equal with their healthcare provider in the discussion around medication prescribing. This study applies the intervention in a two-arm, randomized controlled trial across three sites (UCHealth metro, Memorial, and Medical Center of the Rockies) in the UCHealth medical system.

Aim 1: Assess the effectiveness of the EPIC-HF intervention on HFrEF medication optimization Hypothesis 1: Compared to usual care, EPIC-HF will increase the number of HFrEF medication optimizations (i.e., dose changes for beta-blockers (βB), Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-I)/Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB)/sacubitril, Aldosterone Receptor Antagonists (AldaA), Ivabradine, etc.) without compromising secondary outcomes including safety and healthcare provider satisfaction.

Aim 2: Assess the effectiveness of the EPIC-HF intervention on patient empowerment and activation around their HFrEF medication plan Hypothesis 2: Compared to usual care, EPIC-HF will result in increased patient empowerment and activation around their HFrEF medication plan as measured through patient self-assessment