Scope of heart failure hospitalization.

The growing heart failure (HF) epidemic places an enormous clinical and economic burden on the health care system. The clinical and financial burden related to HF hospitalizations has led to great interest in both improving related outcomes and decreasing costs of care. Besides adhering to existing guidelines, newer approaches to managing these patients, both in terms of monitoring and developing novel therapeutic approaches, are needed. Significant opportunities exist to improve the outcomes for patients with HF, especially those who have been hospitalized. These efforts are even more important now that readmission rates for HF have quality and reimbursement implications.