Telemedicine for Patients Suffering From Heart Failure (Danish Telecare North Trial)

Effectiveness and Cost-effectiveness of Telemedicine for Heart Failure: The Danish "TeleCare North" Pragmatic Randomized Trial

There are two main aims in this study. The first objective is to evaluate whether a particular telehealth solution, in addition to standard treatment and care, lead to a significant decrease in the mortality and an increase in health related quality of life for patients suffering from Heart Failure that may benefit from telehealth compared with only standard treatment and care. The second objective is to examine the additional costs of the telehealth solution and assess whether this solution is a cost-effective way to care for patients with Heart Failure across patients and municipality districts.

It is hypothesized that telehealth care will increase patients quality adjusted life years compared to usual practice, since no difference in mortality and a higher health related quality of life is expected. Furthermore, it is hoped that there will be a 30% reduction in the number of admissions and readmissions to hospitals and a 30% reduction in the number of outpatient visits resulting in fewer costs for hospitals. However, it is uncertain as to whether these savings are offset by other costs such as more visits to general practitioners, community care or the implementation costs.

Inclusion Criteria:

• All heart failure patients that may benefit from telehealthcare.
• Participants are qualified for inclusion if they have been diagnosed with HF according to national guidelines and are NYHA classified 2,3, and 4.
• Patients must have a permanent residence and be motivated for using telehealthcare. *Patients must have a landline or mobile phone and be able to speak Danish or they must live with a relative speaking Danish. Such that the relative must be able to help the patient in translating the information in the use of telehealthcare.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients without landline phone / mobile phone or GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) coverage.
• Patients not able to understand Danish adequately to complete the questionnaires in the study or patients having a cognitive impairment.
• Comorbidity is not an exclusion criterion.