Medical care
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Reducing the cost of frequent hospital admissions for congestive heart failure: a randomized trial of a home telecare intervention.
The high cost of caring for patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) results primarily from frequent hospital readmissions for exacerbations. Home nurse visits after discharge can reduce readmissions, but the intervention costs are high. ⋯ Substantial reductions in hospital readmissions, emergency visits, and cost of care for patients with CHF might be achieved by widespread deployment of distance technologies to provide posthospitalization monitoring. Home telecare may not offer incremental benefit beyond telephone follow-up and is more expensive.