Non-Concordance between Patient and Clinician Estimates of Prognosis in Advanced Heart Failure.

Importance: Despite efforts to enhance serious illness communication, patients with advanced heart failure (HF) lack prognostic understanding.

Objectives: To determine rate of concordance between HF patients' estimation of their prognosis and their physician's estimate of the patient's prognosis, and to compare patient characteristics associated with concordance.

Design: Cross-sectional analysis of a cluster randomized controlled trial with 24-month follow-up and analysis completed on 09/01/2020.

Prognostic Awareness and Goals of Care Discussions Among Patients With Advanced Heart Failure.

Background: Prognostic awareness (PA)-the understanding of limited life expectancy-is critical for effective goals of care discussions (GOCD) in which patients discuss their goals and values in the context of their illness. Yet little is known about PA and GOCD in patients with advanced heart failure (HF). This study aims to determine the prevalence of PA among patients with advanced HF and patient characteristics associated with PA and GOCD.

Evaluation of a Novel Educational Intervention to Improve Conversations About Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillators Management in Patients with Advanced Heart Failure.

Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) reduce the incidence of sudden cardiac death for high-risk patients with heart failure (HF), but shocks from these devices can also cause pain and anxiety at the end of life. Although professional society recommendations encourage proactive discussions about ICD deactivation, clinicians lack training in conducting these conversations, and they occur infrequently. As part of a six-center randomized controlled trial, we evaluated the educational component of a multicomponent intervention shown to increase conversations about ICD deactivation by clinicians who care for a subset of patients with advanced HF.

Clarifying a Clinical Ethics Service's Value, the Visible and the Hidden.

Our aim in this article is to define the difficulties that clinical ethics services encounter when they are asked to demonstrate the value a clinical ethics service (CES) could and should have for an institution and those it serves. The topic emerged out of numerous related presentations at the Un-Conference hosted by the Cleveland Clinic in August 2018 that identified challenges of articulating the value of clinical ethics work for hospital administrators. After a review these talks, it was apparent that the field of clinical ethics may be at a crisis of sorts due to increased pressure to provide explicit measures to healthcare institutions to concretely demonstrate that CESs make a valuable difference in healthcare delivery.

Improving Communication in Heart Failure Patient Care.

Background: Although implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) reduce sudden death, these patients die of heart failure (HF) or other diseases. To prevent shocks at the end of life, clinicians should discuss deactivating the defibrillation function.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine if a clinician-centered teaching intervention and automatic reminders increased ICD deactivation discussions and increased device deactivation.

Foundations of medical decision-making for older adults with cardiovascular disease.

In order to help older adults with cardiovascular disease navigate complex decisions, clinicians must know tenets of medical ethics and have good communication skills. The elements of decision making capacity and informed consent are reviewed, using relevant clinical examples to illustrate the basic concepts. The shared decision making model, by which clinician and patient work together to determine the plan of care, is described.

A study to improve communication between clinicians and patients with advanced heart failure: methods and challenges behind the working to improve discussions about defibrillator management trial.

We report the challenges of the Working to Improve Discussions About Defibrillator Management trial, our novel, multicenter trial aimed at improving communication between cardiology clinicians and their patients with advanced heart failure (HF) who have implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs). The study objectives are (1) to increase ICD deactivation conversations, (2) to increase the number of ICDs deactivated, and (3) to improve psychological outcomes in bereaved caregivers. The unit of randomization is the hospital, the intervention is aimed at HF clinicians, and the patient and caregiver are the units of analysis.

Resident physician interactions with surrogate decision-makers: the resident experience.

This study explored interactions between medical residents and patient surrogates in order to clarify resident understanding of roles and relationships, resident emotional experience, and resident learning processes. Qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews were used involving three family medicine residency programs serving culturally diverse, urban, underserved patient populations. Eighteen second- and third-year trainees described a memorable interaction with a surrogate and then were prompted to discuss their learning experience and their role in the interaction.

Management of end-stage heart failure.

The prevalence of heart failure (HF) is increasing and morbidity and mortality remain high. There is a clear need for palliative care for the growing population of chronically ill patients with HF. Because HF-specific therapy modifies disease and palliates symptoms, recommended treatments for chronic and acute decompensated HF are reviewed.