About The Program
The N-HeFT Network encompasses medical teams of heart failure experts who are dedicated to doing “the right thing for the right reason.” Thirty-three host sites from all parts of the country invite medical professionals to visit their heart failure clinic to spend one or two days in interactive sessions at their sites. N-HeFT is sponsored and administered by Case Western Reserve University (CASE) for continuing medical education credit.
PROGRAM HIGHLGHTS
- Continuing education credits for physicians, pharmacists, and nurses
- Intensive small-group training focusing on your medical team’s needs
- Current optimal approaches to heart patient care
- First hand exposure to the operations of a top tier heart failure clinic
- Convenience-matching the time and place best for your team
- Affordable
- Ongoing support-Three follow up mentoring sessions to assist in implementing your goals for practice improvement
- Resources and tools-newly published guidelines, patient education materials, references, and quality tools to use in your practice
NETWORK MEMBERS
The combined strength of all the members of the N-HeFT network has contributed to successfully reaching our goals. Our list of members includes the following:
- Executive Council,
- N-HeFT staff
- Lead Clinical Coordinator-Julie Gee, RN, MSN, CNP (click for bio)
- Development Specialist-Eva Allen
- Assistant-Jeneen Shell
- 31 Site Directors, 20 Clinical Coordinators and 125 -N-HeFT faculty. Click to view a list of sites
- Accreditation click to view
- Continuing Medical Education within The School of Medicine at CASE
- Financial support
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Educational grants from the following companies are gratefully acknowledged: Actelion, Amgen, Astellas, CV Therapeutics, GlaxoSmithKline, Kos Pharmaceuticals, Medtronic, Novartis, Otsuka Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Res Med, and Schering Corporation. Acceptance of funding in support of this program does not constitute endorsement of any product or manufacturer.
MISSION
N-HeFT seeks to create a mutually supportive environment for its members that promotes evidence-based best practices for heart failure by providing didactic sessions and preceptorships through its network of heart failure centers across the country.
PURPOSE OF THE NETWORK
The purpose of this national network is twofold:
- Maintain and disseminate best practices in the care and treatment of HF
- Continuously improve the quality of the program itself as an educational delivery system with the goal of improved patient outcomes
DESIRED OUTCOMES
Physicians will implement changes in their practice to improve the quality of care of their heart failure patients. Participants currently identify 3 areas for change in their practice. N-HeFT host sites will facilitate 3 discussions with the participating sites within 90 days of the program to monitor the progress of the areas identified for change.
Resources and teaching techniques are designed to encourage and/or reinforce practice behaviors with the goal of improving quality outcomes. (click for outcomes)
AUDIENCE/FORMAT
The curriculum is intended for physicians in Cardiology, Family or General Practice, Internal Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Ob/Gyn, Geriatrics, as well as members of their health care teams interested in a clinical update in the diagnostic and management challenges in the treatment of heart failure. Workshops customized for Nurse Managers, Medical Directors, Medical Scientific Liaisons, and Medical Sales Personnel are also available.
The workshops can be tailored to the unique setting of each team including hospital, outpatient, skilled nursing facility, home care, nursing home, and palliative care or hospice.
Formats
Small medical teams who already treat HF patients travel to one of 31 host sites and meet with clinicians who specialize in heart failure to share their clinical challenges and experiences in the management of heart failure. Curriculum is uniquely tailored to the specific learning needs of each small medical team-whether the cardiac specialist or the general practitioner.
Here small medical teams learn about optimal approaches to heart failure through highly interactive lecture, observation and hands-on participation.
These teams also receive materials that support implementation of a heart failure disease management program designed to improve both clinical and economic outcomes. For three months following the site visit, they can consult with host site faculty to implement new ideas and practices learned in the program. Host site faculty make three follow-up contacts to discuss the strategies and challenges encountered since the site visit.
Click for sample agendas:
Cardiology Primary Care
N-HeFT in partnership with Family Medicine at CASE developed heart failure training interwoven in the three year program for faculty and residents.
Training Utilizes:
- A spiraling approach for educational content and clinical skill
- Heart failure interactive lectures and case studies
- Clinical practice
- Evaluation of all levels of training
Click here for details
The role of Advocate for HF patients was developed to address these important challenges
- high cost of hospitalization
- poor post-discharge follow up
- high rates of 30-day readmission
- inadequate prescription and titration of medications
- limited patient education for self care
- poor communication between providers
A basic curriculum includes physiology, diagnosis and management of HF, Practice Guidelines, communication, end-of-life decision making and palliative care to support the following activities of the HF Advocates:
- Maintain a sizeable caseload of HF patients at high risk for hospital readmission and death that includes providing aggressive post-discharge follow up.
- Build effective and influential relationships with MDs, RNs, and administrators at every point of care to improve use of evidence-based decision-making for HF patients
- Evaluate and enhance the effectiveness of existing systems of HF care
- Participate in planning and convening of HF educational and quality improvement forums.
Click here to learn more about the program
This training is designed for larger groups such as nursing home staff, home health groups, medical science liaisons etc. who may not be interested in visiting the hospital or heart failure clinic. Training is tailored to the specific needs of each team. Some examples of possible activities include the list below:
- patient panel
- faculty panel
- guided standardized patient
- strategic planning opportunity
- telemanagement training
- workshop on setting up a heart failure program
Click here for sample agenda
The web site will host presentations by heart failure experts and complements the live courses by supplementing resources and increasing the scope and distribution of training. Online curriculum also incorporates new areas of training for geriatric specialists, home care professionals, nurses, and residents in general and family medicine. It includes the following:
- Assessment
- True and false, multiple choice: basic science and clinical knowledge
- Case presentations: diagnosis and therapeutic approaches
- Evaluation of training
- Self-assessment
- Audio and slides
- Regular updates by editorial team
- Email connection to network of experts by email
- Continuing education credit
(click for online curriculum)
TOPICS/OBJECTIVES
CARDIOLOGY CORE
- Review current evidence on pharmacologic therapy for HF
- Identify appropriate interventions based on changes in HF status
- Discuss various new therapeutic approaches based on recent studies
- Develop a systematic approach to ventricular arrhythmias
- Determine the minimum structure, processes, tools, and performance measures related to setting up a HF program
- Discuss the economics of HF in the U.S.
PRIMARY CARE CORE
- Recognize the etiologies and epidemiology of HF
- Describe the pathophysiology of the failing heart
- Identify key elements of the physical exam and work up of HF patients to determine differential diagnosis
- Review evidenced based HF guidelines for HF
- Determine appropriate pharmacologic therapy based on pathophysiological guidelines
- Describe factors that influence effective medication management of HF
- Explain the role of essential elements of patient education in adherence to HF treatment plan
Allied Health Core
- Recognize the etiologies and epidemiology of HF
- Identify key elements of the nursing assessment of HF
- Review evidenced based HF guidelines for HF
- Determine appropriate pharmacologic therapy based on pathophysiological guidelines
- Describe factors that influence effective medication management of HF
- Describe key elements of effective nurse-physician-patient communication
- Describe approaches to improve self-efficacy for HF patients
- Discuss diagnosis and treatment of end stage HF patients
ELECTIVES
- Determine appropriate device therapy based on current guidelines for Ventricular Assist Device implantation (VAD), Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICD) and Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT)
- Identify indications and contraindications for heart transplantation
- Review treatment options for co-morbidities of HF
- Discuss diagnosis and treatment for HF patients with depression
- Describe effective discharge plan
- Plan a disease management strategy appropriate to a given population
- Plan a disease management strategy utilizing telehealth
- Discuss roles of echocardiography in HF diagnosis and treatment
- Discuss testing, benefits and limitations of exercise for patients with HF
- Consider principles of effective change in improvement planning processes
- Describe accepted medical therapy for HF with preserved LVEF
- Analyze psychosocial and quality of life issues in HF care
- Review the approach for the diagnosis of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
- Review the approach for the treatment of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
- Discuss research opportunities for HF
- Explain the role of the advocate as a bridge to quality care for HF patients
- Identify components of sleep apnea related to HF
- Explore various approaches to treatment of sleep apnea
- Explore surgical options for end stage HF
ACCREDITATION for N-HeFT LIVE
The Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine designates this educational activity for a maximum of 7.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)TM. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Current guidelines require that participants in CME activities be made aware of 1) any relationships between speakers and commercial entities, 2) discussion of off-label uses of medications and/or devices, and 3) any limitations in data cited. This information has been requested from speakers and will be incorporated into the syllabus distributed during the activity.
All faculty have agreed to abide by HIPAA (patient health information privacy) regulations. |
