***TASK*** the task is to summarize an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***INPUT*** the input is a biomedical literature 
    ***OUTPUT*** the output is the summary of an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***DOCUMENTATION*** 
    ***EXAMPLES*** 
    Input: BACKGROUND Case management is believed to promote continuity of care and decrease hospitalization rates , although few controlled trials have tested this approach . OBJECTIVE To assess the effectiveness of a st and ardized telephonic case-management intervention in decreasing re source use in patients with chronic heart failure . METHODS A r and omized controlled clinical trial was used to assess the effect of telephonic case management on re source use .  Patients were identified at hospitalization and assigned to receive 6 months of intervention ( n = 130 ) or usual care ( n = 228 ) based on the group to which their physician was r and omized .  Hospitalization rates , readmission rates , hospital days , days to first rehospitalization , multiple readmissions , emergency department visits , inpatient costs , outpatient re source use , and patient satisfaction were measured at 3 and 6 months . RESULTS The heart failure hospitalization rate was 45.7 % lower in the intervention group at 3 months ( P = .03 ) and 47.8 % lower at 6 months ( P = .01 ) . Heart failure hospital days ( P = .03 ) and multiple readmissions ( P = .03 ) were significantly lower in the intervention group at 6 months . Inpatient heart failure costs were 45.5 % lower at 6 months ( P = .04 ) . A cost saving was realized even after intervention costs were deducted . There was no evidence of cost shifting to the outpatient setting . Patient satisfaction with care was higher in the intervention group . CONCLUSIONS The reduction in hospitalizations , costs , and other re source use achieved using st and ardized telephonic case management in the early months after a heart failure admission is greater than that usually achieved with pharmaceutical therapy and comparable with other disease management approaches Background — The long-term impact of chronic heart failure management programs over the typical life span of affected individuals is unknown . Methods and Results — The effects of a nurse-led , multidisciplinary , home-based intervention ( HBI ) in a typically elderly cohort of patients with chronic heart failure initially r and omized to either HBI ( n=149 ) or usual postdischarge care ( UC ) ( n=148 ) after a short-term hospitalization were studied for up to 10 years of follow-up ( minimum 7.5 years of follow-up ) . Study end points were all-cause mortality , event-free survival ( event was defined as death or unplanned hospitalization ) , recurrent hospital stay , and cost per life-year gained . Median survival in the HBI cohort was almost twice that of UC ( 40 versus 22 months ; P<0.001 ) , with fewer deaths overall ( HBI , 77 % versus 89 % ; adjusted relative risk , 0.74 ; 95 % CI , 0.53 to 0.80 ; P<0.001 ) . HBI was associated with prolonged event-free survival ( median , 7 versus 4 months ; P<0.01 ) . HBI patients had more unplanned readmissions ( 560 versus 550 ) but took 7 years to overtake UC ; the rates of readmission ( 2.04±3.23 versus 3.66±7.62 admissions ; P<0.05 ) and related hospital stay ( 14.8±23.0 versus 28.4±53.4 days per patient per year ; P<0.05 ) were significantly lower in the HBI group . HBI was associated with 120 more life-years per 100 patients treated compared with UC ( 405 versus 285 years ) at a cost of $ 1729 per additional life-year gained when we accounted for healthcare costs including the HBI . Conclusions — In altering the natural history of chronic heart failure relative to UC ( via prolonged survival and reduced frequency of recurrent hospitalization  ) , HBI is a remarkably cost- and time-effective strategy over the longer term OBJECTIVES to investigate the effectiveness of a  pharmacy discharge plan  in elderly hospitalized patients . DESIGN r and omized controlled trial . SUBJECTS AND SETTING S we r and omized patients aged 75 years and older on four or more medicines who had been discharged from three acute general and one long-stay hospital to a pharmacy intervention or usual care . INTERVENTIONS the hospital pharmacist developed discharge plans which gave details of medication and support required by the patient . A copy was given to the patient and to all relevant professionals and carers . This was followed by a domiciliary assessment by a community pharmacist . In the control group , patients were discharged from hospital following st and ard procedures that included a discharge letter to the general practitioner listing current medications . OUTCOMES the primary outcome was re-admission to hospital within 6 months . Secondary outcomes included the number of deaths , attendance at hospital outpatient clinics and general practice and proportion of days in hospital over the follow-up period , together with patients ' general well-being , satisfaction with the service and knowledge of and adherence to prescribed medication . RESULTS we recruited 362 patients , of whom 181 were r and omized to each group . We collected hospital and general practice data on at least 91 and 72 % of patients respectively at each follow-up point and interviewed between 43 and 90 % of the study subjects . There were no significant differences between the groups in the proportion of patients re-admitted to hospital between baseline and 3 months or 3 and 6 months . There were no significant differences in any of the secondary outcomes . CONCLUSIONS we found no evidence to suggest that the co-ordinated hospital and community pharmacy care discharge plans in elderly patients in this study influence outcomes AIMS To test the effect of education and support by a nurse on self-care and re source utilization in patients with heart failure . METHODS A total of 179 patients ( mean age 73 , 58 % male , NYHA III-IV ) hospitalized with heart failure were evaluated prospect ively . Patients were r and omized to the study intervention or to ' care as usual '  . The supportive educative intervention consisted of intensive , systematic and planned education by a study nurse about the consequences of heart failure in daily life , using a st and ard nursing care plan developed by the research ers for older patients with heart failure . Education and support took place during the hospital stay and at a home visit within a week of discharge . Data were collected on self-care abilities , self-care behaviour , readmissions , visits to the emergency heart centre and use of other health care re sources . RESULTS Education and support from a nurse in a hospital setting and at home significantly increases self-care behaviour in patients with heart failure . Patients from both the intervention and the control group increased their self-care behaviour within 1 month of discharge , but the increase in the intervention group was significantly more after 1 month . Although self-care behaviour in both groups decreased during the following 8 months , the increase from baseline remained statistically significant in the intervention group , but not in the control group . No significant effects on re source utilization were found . CONCLUSIONS Intensive , systematic , tailored and planned education and support by a nurse results in an increase in patients ' self-care behaviour . No significant effects were found on use of health care re sources . Additional organisational changes , such as longer follow-up and the availability of a heart failure specialist would probably enhance the effects of education and support OBJECTIVE to prove the effectiveness of geriatric evaluation and management for elderly , hospitalized patients , combined with post-discharge home intervention by an interdisciplinary team . DESIGN r and omized controlled trial with outcome and costs assessed for 12 months after the date of admission . SETTING university-affiliated geriatric hospital and the homes of elderly patients . SUBJECTS 545 patients with acute illnesses admitted from home to the geriatric hospital . INTERVENTIONS patients were r and omly assigned to receive either comprehensive geriatric assessment and post-discharge home intervention ( intervention ) , comprehensive geriatric assessment alone ( assessment ) or usual care . MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES survival , functional status , rehospitalization , nursing home placement and direct costs over 12 months . RESULTS the intervention group showed a significant reduction in length of hospital stay ( 33.49 days vs 40.7 days in the assessment group and 42.7 days in the control group ; P < 0.05 ) and rate of immediate nursing home placement ( 4.4 % vs 7.3 % and 8.1 % ; P < 0.05 ) . There was no difference in survival , acute care hospital readmissions or new admissions to nursing homes but the intervention group had significantly shorter hospital readmissions ( 22.2 days vs 34.2 days and 35.7 days ; P < 0.05 ) and nursing home placements ( 114.7 days vs 161.6 days and 170.0 days ; P < 0.05 ) . Direct costs were lower in the intervention group [ about DM 7000 ( US $ 4000 ) per person per year ] . Functional capacities were significantly better in the intervention group . CONCLUSIONS comprehensive geriatric assessment in combination with post-discharge home intervention does not improve survival , but does improve functional status and can reduce the length of the initial hospital stay and of subsequent readmissions . It can reduce the rate of immediate nursing home admissions and delay permanent nursing home placement . It may also substantially reduce direct costs of hospitalized patients Background .The high cost of caring for patients with congestive heart failure ( CHF ) results primarily from frequent hospital readmissions for exacerbations . Home nurse visits after discharge can reduce readmissions , but the intervention costs are high . Objectives .To compare the effectiveness of three hospital discharge care models for reducing CHF-related readmission charges : 1 ) home telecare delivered via a 2-way video-conference device with an integrated electronic stethoscope ; 2 ) nurse telephone calls ; and 3 ) usual outpatient care . Research Design . One-year r and omized trial . Subjects . English-speaking patients 40 years of age and older with a primary hospital admission diagnosis of CHF . Measures .Our primary outcome was CHF-related readmission charges during a 6-month period after r and omization . Secondary outcomes included all-cause readmissions , emergency department ( ED ) visits , and associated charges . Results .Thirty-seven subjects were r and omized : 13 to home telecare , 12 each telephone care and 12 to usual care .  Mean CHF-related readmission charges were 86 % lower in the telecare group ( $ 5850 , SD $ 21,094 ) and 84 % lower in the telephone group ( $ 7320 , SD $ 24,440 ) than in the usual care group ( $ 44,479 , SD $ 121,214 ) . However , the between-group difference was not statistically significant . Both intervention groups had significantly fewer CHF-related ED visits ( P = 0.0342 ) and charges ( P = 0.0487 ) than the usual care group . Trends favoring both interventions were noted for all other utilization outcomes . Conclusions .Substantial reductions in hospital readmissions , emergency visits , and cost of care for patients with CHF might be achieved by widespread deployment of distance technologies to provide posthospitalization monitoring . Home telecare may not offer incremental benefit beyond telephone follow-up and is more expensive Background Telemonitoring of patients with chronic heart failure ( CHF ) is an emerging concept to detect early warning signs of impending acute decompensation in order to prevent hospitalization . Objective The goal of the MOBIle TELemonitoring in Heart Failure Patients Study ( MOBITEL ) was to evaluate the impact of home-based telemonitoring using Internet and mobile phone technology on the outcome of heart failure patients after an episode of acute decompensation . Methods Patients were r and omly allocated to pharmacological treatment ( control group ) or to pharmacological treatment with telemedical surveillance for 6 months ( tele group ) . Patients r and omized into the tele group were equipped with mobile phone – based patient terminals for data acquisition and data transmission to the monitoring center . Study physicians had continuous access to the data via a secure Web portal . If transmitted values went outside individually adjustable borders , study physicians were sent an email alert . Primary endpoint was hospitalization for worsening CHF or death from cardiovascular cause . Results The study was stopped after r and omization of 120 patients ( 85 male , 35 female ) ; median age was 66 years ( IQR 62 - 72 ) . The control group comprised 54 patients ( 39 male , 15 female ) with a median age of 67 years ( IQR 61 - 72 ) , and the tele group included 54 patients ( 40 male , 14 female ) with a median age of 65 years ( IQR 62 - 72 ) . There was no significant difference between groups with regard to baseline characteristics . Twelve tele group patients were unable to begin data transmission due to the inability of these patients to properly operate the mobile phone ( “ never beginners ” ) . Four patients did not finish the study due to personal reasons . Intention-to-treat analysis at study end indicated that 18 control group patients ( 33 % ) reached the primary endpoint ( 1 death , 17 hospitalizations ) , compared with 11 tele group patients ( 17 % , 0 deaths , 11 hospitalizations ; relative risk reduction 50 % , 95 % CI 3 - 74 % , P = .06 ) . Per- protocol analysis revealed that 15 % of tele group patients ( 0 deaths , 8 hospitalizations ) reached the primary endpoint ( relative risk reduction 54 % , 95 % CI 7 - 79 % , P= .04 ) . NYHA class improved by one class in tele group patients only ( P < .001 ) . Tele group patients who were hospitalized for worsening heart failure during the study had a significantly shorter length of stay ( median 6.5 days , IQR 5.5 - 8.3 ) compared with control group patients ( median 10.0 days , IQR 
    Output:
    
No significant differences were observed in quality of life .
In conclusion , TC improves transitions for older patients and should be included in the reorganization of healthcare services