2021 ACC/AHA Key Data Elements and Definitions for Heart Failure

Published 23 March 2021

Biykem Bozkurt, Ray E. Hershberger, Javed Butler, Kathleen L. Grady, Paul A. Heidenreich, Maria Lizza Isler, James K. Kirklin, William S. Weintraub

Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes; 2021 Mar; 14(4): e000102

• Advanced Heart Failure & Transplantation
• Anesthesiology & Critical Care
• Cardiology
• Cardiothoracic Surgery
• Endorsement
• Nursing & Allied Health
• Pharmacy
• Publications & Journals
• Research & Immunology
• Standards & Guidelines

Heart failure (HF) data standards are of critical importance to clinical providers, investigators, administrators, healthcare services and institutions, regulators, legislators, and payers more than ever as a result of: 1) increasing prevalence and burden of HF; 2) increased focus on performance metrics for HF; 3) increasing need for large data sets to examine comparative effectiveness and safety of treatment strategies in real world patients; 4) increased recognition of healthcare disparities that require understanding of patient, healthcare delivery, and system variables; 5) growing need for new effective preventive and treatment strategies in HF targeted for different stages or types of HF; subgroups of interest and comorbidities requiring better classification and documentation of patient and treatment variables; 6) need for improved communication and for shared decision-making and transitions of care between different levels of care and providers; 7) development of models for prediction of therapeutic benefit and outcomes; 8) universally understandable data for individualization of therapies and management strategies for patients with complex HF by different providers; and 9) development and conduct of future registries, at both hospital and national levels, by providing a list of major variables, outcomes, and definitions.

These data elements are intended to be useful in the following categories:

• Clinical programs, such as HF clinics, where many clinicians work together to achieve specific goals for the care and care coordination of patients with HF.
• Transitions of care, in which patients with HF move through different locations and levels of care (ie, inpatient, outpatient [eg, home, rehabilitation center, nursing home], palliative care, and hospice) or progress through different stages of HF (Stages A to D), with providers ranging from HF specialists, cardiac transplant physicians, home healthcare or palliative care providers, and primary care providers.
• Clinical registries, for ongoing care, prospective epidemiologic and comparative effectiveness research, pre- or postmarket analysis for efficacy and safety in populations of interest.
• Clinical research, particularly prospective randomized clinical trials where eventual pooled analysis or meta-analysis is anticipated.
• Quality performance measurement initiatives, provider or institutional based or external, retrospective, or prospective.
• Organization and design of electronic medical information initiatives, such as EHRs, pharmacy databases, computerized decision support, and cloud technologies incorporating health information.
• Public health policy, healthcare coverage, insurance coverage, and legislation development to provide appropriate and timely care for patients with HF and to prevent disparities in HF care.
  
  
  

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