Implementing a telemedicine-led heart failure medication regimen optimization clinic in medically underserved heart failure populations.

Background: Suboptimal guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) management for heart failure (HF) is a critical issue in rural communities. Most patients with HF in rural communities are treated in primary care settings. Multidisciplinary telemedicine-led HF medication optimization clinics were implemented to improve access to specialty care and address health disparities in HF care in rural Appalachian areas.

Palliative care for patients with heart failure and family caregivers in rural Appalachia: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Heart failure (HF) is a debilitating disease with worsening symptoms and family caregiving burden. HF affects more than 8 million Americans. West Virginia has the highest HF death rate in the U.

Management of Iron Deficiency in Heart Failure: Practical Considerations and Implementation of Evidence-Based Iron Supplementation.

Iron deficiency (ID) is present in approximately 50% of patients with heart failure (HF) and even higher prevalence rate up to 80% in post-acute HF setting. The current guidelines for HF recommend intravenous (IV) iron replacement in HF with reduced or mildly reduced ejection fraction and ID based on clinical trials showing improvements in quality of life and exercise capacity, and an overall treatment benefit for recurrent HF hospitalization. However, several barriers cause challenges in implementing IV iron supplementation in practice due, in part, to clinician knowledge gaps and limited resource availability to protocolize routine utilization in appropriate patients.