• Tander Simberloff, Laura Godinez, Tiffany Chen, Lan Jiang, Wen-Chih Wu, Jensy Stafford, James L Rudolph, and Mitchell Wice.
• Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Department of Medicine, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
• J Pain Symptom Manage. 2024 Aug 20.

ContextConcurrent care allows patients to receive hospice while continuing disease-directed therapies. This treatment model is available in the Veterans Administration (VA) medical system, but its use in Veterans with heart failure (HF) is unexplored.ObjectiveTo compare use of advanced HF therapies 30 days post-hospitalization in Veterans on hospice versus not on hospice following admission for HF exacerbation.MethodsWe evaluated Veterans admitted for HF exacerbation to VA hospitals between Jan 2011 and June 2019 who received advanced HF therapies, hospice services, or both post-discharge. Concurrent care was defined as receiving both hospice services and advanced HF therapies. Demographics, comorbidities, and prior healthcare utilization were compared. Secondary outcomes included burdensome transitions and mortality.ResultsAmong 317,967 HF Veterans, 18,350 (5.8%) chose hospice post-hospitalization. Only 58 hospice-enrolled Veterans (0.3%) received advanced HF therapies (i.e. concurrent care) within 30 days post-discharge. Of 299,617 Veterans not on hospice, 6,083 (2.0%) received advanced HF therapies (0.3% vs 2.0%; p<0.001). Veterans receiving concurrent care had higher six-month mortality than those receiving advanced HF therapies alone (77.6% vs. 14.9%, SMD 1.61). Hazard of burdensome transitions was similar (adjusted HR 1.44, 95% CI 0.95-2.17).ConclusionVeterans with HF receiving concurrent care were few and experienced higher mortality. Rate of burdensome transitions was similar between Veterans receiving concurrent care and those not on hospice. Further research may explore why Veterans infrequently utilize concurrent care at the end of life.Published by Elsevier Inc.

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