Collaborative Care for Heart Failure Patients With the Metabolic Syndrome

Overview

Heart failure is a condition where the heart does not pump enough blood to the rest of the body. People with heart failure may have another condition called the "metabolic syndrome"( having excess fat in the belly, high blood pressure, high fat in the blood, low level of good cholesterol and high blood sugar). People who have both heart failure and the metabolic syndrome often see many doctors. A new clinic has been formed at Ben Taub General Hospital that includes a specialist in heart failure (cardiologist) and in the metabolic syndrome (endocrinologist) as well as patient teaching. The goal of this study is to randomize patients with the metabolic syndrome who are admitted to the hospital for heart failure to this clinic (collaborative care) versus the usual doctor appointments (usual care). The purpose of this study is to see if collaborative care is better medical care than usual care. Specifically, we will see if patients in collaborative care will have: 1. fewer admissions to hospitals for illness 2. better blood pressure, sugar, fat and heart failure control 3. better patient satisfaction and knowledge about their diseases 4. lower levels of inflammation.

A striking feature of the Harris County Hospital District heart failure population is that the prevalence of obesity (50.8%) and the metabolic syndrome (48.9%) exceeds that of the general U.S. population. The metabolic syndrome is defined as the presence of 3 out of 5 components: abdominal obesity, elevated blood pressure, dyslipidemias (↑ triglycerides and ↓ high density lipoprotein) and insulin resistance and hyperglycemia. Current treatment recommendations for the metabolic syndrome include lifestyle modification (diet, exercise, and weight control) and targeted pharmaceutical therapy for the individual components. Although specialized care for the metabolic syndrome has not been reported, separately, both specialty heart failure care and endocrinology care have been shown to reduce hospital admissions and health care costs, increase target medication titration and disease control, improve quality of life, and survival in patients with heart failure and diabetes respectively. As both heart failure and the metabolic syndrome are commonly found in the same patients, collaborative out-patient management of both conditions in the same clinic is novel and may have a significant impact on outcomes. Hypothesis: Compared to usual post-discharge follow-up, collaborative treatment of heart failure patients with the metabolic syndrome by a team composed of an endocrinologist, cardiologist, patient educator, nurse and case manager will result in: * Decreased hospital readmissions and emergency room visits * Health care cost savings * Increased achievement of treatment goals (target blood pressure, HgbA1c, lipids, and heart failure medication titration) * Improved patient satisfaction, knowledge, and compliance * Lower levels of markers of inflammation and insulin resistance