Implementing shared medical appointments for heart failure patients in a community cardiology practice: a pilot study.

Objective: To examine patient and staff satisfaction, billing charges, and programmatic feasibility of shared medical appointments (SMA) in a nurse practitioner-managed heart failure (HF) clinic in a community cardiology practice.

Methods: Twenty patients were scheduled among four SMAs for this pilot study. All aspects of a usual clinic appointment were utilized during the SMA, but an additional 20-minute teaching session was presented.