Project Objectives

► Is there an unacceptable delay between the availability of conclusive clinical trial evidence and its application to HF patient care in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?

► Would establishing a registry database with an active feedback system to the treating physicians results in reducing the gap between research and practice?

► Would establishing a disease management program for patients with high-risk chronic HF results in improvement of their cardiovascular outcome?

■ Describe a comprehensive view (E.R/In-patient/Out-patient) of the current causes, diagnostic & treatment strategies, short and long-term prognosis for patients with HF (systolic versus diastolic)

■ Identify opportunities to improve the care of patients with HF through implementation of quality initiative programs:

       ● Produce cardiac care Report cards and Critical pathways for hospitals

       ● Test usefulness of cardiac care Report cards and Critical pathways in improving the quality of care to patients with acute HF

       ● Test usefulness of a comprehensive multidisciplinary disease management program in the out-patient settings in improvement of the quality of life and hospitalization of patients with high-risk chronic HF

■ To create permanent database tool for continuous quality measurement useful to both country-wide studies and to individual hospitals seeking to improve quality of care & allow comparison with local and national practice patterns (i.e: NOT how to choose a hospital when seeking cardiac care since the involved hospitals will be kept anonymous in the publication process)

■ To evaluate practice trends in the proper use of old &/or new tests medications & devices, & encourage use of those with clear evidence and thus raise the standard of care & reduce the gap between guidelines and "real-life" practice

■ To foster collaborative interaction with other cardiovascular outcome assessment projects.

■ To assess costs of different treatment strategies and utilization of different hospital units (ICU, CCU, Wards, Clinic) & recommend those with proven evidence and cost-effectiveness in improving HF patient outcome

■ To Develop hypotheses for future clinical research

■ To increase public awareness of HF.