Cost‐effective management of heart failure

Abstract

Heart failure affects more than 2 million Americans, and about 400,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. The direct economic cost is over $10 billion/year. About 75% of this cost is spent on hospitalization, and almost 20% on nursing home care. Drugs such as angiotensin‐converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors reduce mortality and hospitalization and are thus very cost effective in the management of heart failure. Cost‐effective strategies should focus on keeping patients out of the hospital. Additional savings can be obtained by more appropriate utilization of tests.