Measure description
Percentage of patients 18 years of age and older with heart failure who completed initial and follow-up patient-reported functional status assessments
Rationale
Patients living with heart failure often have poor functional status and health-related quality of life, which declines as the disease progresses (Allen et al., 2012). In addition, their care is often complicated by multiple comorbidities. To assist in managing these complex patients, the American College of Cardiology Foundation and American Heart Association recommend collecting initial and repeat assessments of a patient's function and ability to complete desired activities of daily living (Hunt et al., 2009). The American Heart Association also released scientific statements emphasizing the collection of patient-reported health status (for example, functional limitations, symptom burden, quality of life) from heart failure patients as an important means of establishing a dynamic conversation between patient and provider regarding care goals and the patient's priorities (Allen et al., 2012; Rumsfeld et al., 2013).
The most recent update to clinical guidelines by the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology, and the Heart Failure Society of America further emphasizes that better understanding of symptom burden and prognosis may improve the quality of treatment decisions. The guideline also indicates that routine assessment can facilitate population health management by identifying high-risk patients needing closer monitoring or referral to specialized centers and that patient-reported health status assessment increases the patient’s role in care, which can motivate initiation and uptake of medical therapy (Heidenreich et al., 2022).
Clinical Recommendation Statements
The American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology, and the Heart Failure Society of America (2022):
This guideline provides patient-centric recommendations for clinicians to prevent, diagnose, and manage patients with heart failure and specifically recommends assessing patient-reported health status using a validated questionnaire to provide incremental information for patient functional status, symptom burden, and prognosis. Tools specifically recommended in the guideline are as follows:
- The Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire or,
- The Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire
- PROMIS-Plus-HF [Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Plus-Heart Failure]