• Michael K Ong, Patrick S Romano, Sarah Edgington, Harriet U Aronow, Andrew D Auerbach, Jeanne T Black, Teresa De Marco, Jose J Escarce, Lorraine S Evangelista, Barbara Hanna, Theodore G Ganiats, Barry H Greenberg, Sheldon Greenfield, Sherrie H Kaplan, Asher Kimchi, Honghu Liu, Dawn Lombardo, Carol M Mangione, Bahman Sadeghi, Banafsheh Sadeghi, Majid Sarrafzadeh, Kathleen Tong, Gregg C Fonarow, and Better Effectiveness After Transition–Heart Failure (BEAT-HF) Research Group.
• Department of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles2Department of Medicine, Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, California.
• JAMA Intern Med. 2016 Mar 1; 176 (3): 310-8.

ImportanceIt remains unclear whether telemonitoring approaches provide benefits for patients with heart failure (HF) after hospitalization.ObjectiveTo evaluate the effectiveness of a care transition intervention using remote patient monitoring in reducing 180-day all-cause readmissions among a broad population of older adults hospitalized with HF.Design, Setting, And ParticipantsWe randomized 1437 patients hospitalized for HF between October 12, 2011, and September 30, 2013, to the intervention arm (715 patients) or to the usual care arm (722 patients) of the Better Effectiveness After Transition-Heart Failure (BEAT-HF) study and observed them for 180 days. The dates of our study analysis were March 30, 2014, to October 1, 2015. The setting was 6 academic medical centers in California. Participants were hospitalized individuals 50 years or older who received active treatment for decompensated HF.InterventionsThe intervention combined health coaching telephone calls and telemonitoring. Telemonitoring used electronic equipment that collected daily information about blood pressure, heart rate, symptoms, and weight. Centralized registered nurses conducted telemonitoring reviews, protocolized actions, and telephone calls.Main Outcomes And MeasuresThe primary outcome was readmission for any cause within 180 days after discharge. Secondary outcomes were all-cause readmission within 30 days, all-cause mortality at 30 and 180 days, and quality of life at 30 and 180 days.ResultsAmong 1437 participants, the median age was 73 years. Overall, 46.2% (664 of 1437) were female, and 22.0% (316 of 1437) were African American. The intervention and usual care groups did not differ significantly in readmissions for any cause 180 days after discharge, which occurred in 50.8% (363 of 715) and 49.2% (355 of 722) of patients, respectively (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.88-1.20; P = .74). In secondary analyses, there were no significant differences in 30-day readmission or 180-day mortality, but there was a significant difference in 180-day quality of life between the intervention and usual care groups. No adverse events were reported.Conclusions And RelevanceAmong patients hospitalized for HF, combined health coaching telephone calls and telemonitoring did not reduce 180-day readmissions.Trial Registrationclinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01360203.

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