IJERPH, Vol. 20, Pages 5933: Telemedicine Support for Primary Care Providers versus Usual Care in Patients with Heart Failure: Protocol of a Pragmatic Cluster Randomised Trial within the Brazilian Heart Insufficiency with Telemedicine (BRAHIT) Study
IJERPH, Vol. 20, Pages 5933: Telemedicine Support for Primary Care Providers versus Usual Care in Patients with Heart Failure: Protocol of a Pragmatic Cluster Randomised Trial within the Brazilian Heart Insufficiency with Telemedicine (BRAHIT) Study
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health doi: 10.3390/ijerph20115933
Authors:
Leonardo Graever
Aurora Felice Castro Issa
Viviane Belidio Pinheiro da Fonseca
Marcelo Machado Melo
Gabriel Pesce de Castro da Silva
Isabel Cristina Pacheco da Nóbrega
Leonardo Cançado Monteiro Savassi
Mariana Borges Dias
Maria Kátia Gomes
Jose Roberto Lapa e Silva
Raphael Mendonça Guimarães
Renato Cony Seródio
Anne Frølich
Henrik Gudbergsen
Janus Christian Jakobsen
Helena Dominguez
Heart failure is a prevalent condition and a frequent cause of hospital readmissions and poor quality of life. Teleconsultation support from cardiologists to primary care physicians managing patients with heart failure may improve care, but the effect on patient-relevant outcomes is unclear. We aim to evaluate whether collaboration through a novel teleconsultation platform in the Brazilian Heart Insufficiency with Telemedicine (BRAHIT) project, tested on a previous feasibility study, can improve patient-relevant outcomes. We will conduct a parallel-group, two-arm, cluster-randomised superiority trial with a 1:1 allocation ratio, with primary care practices from Rio de Janeiro as clusters. Physicians from the intervention group practices will receive teleconsultation support from a cardiologist to assist patients discharged from hospitals after admission for heart failure. In contrast, physicians from the control group practices will perform usual care. We will include 10 patients per each of the 80 enrolled practices (n = 800). The primary outcome will be a composite of mortality and hospital admissions after six months. Secondary outcomes will be adverse events, symptoms frequency, quality of life, and primary care physicians’ compliance with treatment guidelines. We hypothesise that teleconsulting support will improve patient outcomes.