February is American Heart Month—a time to focus on heart health and celebrate advances that help individuals live better, healthier lives. At WellSpan Health, our heart and vascular team collaborates with other services throughout the WellSpan system to make cardiovascular care smarter, safer and more convenient for our patients across WellSpan hospitals and care centers.

Heart failure is a common condition that affects millions of Americans. It’s a leading reason people end up in the hospital, sometimes for problems that could be managed outside the hospital. WellSpan providers noticed that many patients with heart failure were being admitted to the hospital—even when their symptoms were mild or moderate and could be better treated outside the emergency room.

The health system set out to change this. The goal? Help patients get the right care, in the right place, at the right time—while avoiding unnecessary hospital stays. Here’s how it works:

• Nurse Triage Call Center: WellSpan’s nurse call center is available 24/7 to help patients who are experiencing symptoms decide what kind of care is best suited for them. Nurses use evidence-based data, and guidelines to better understand your symptoms and your health history to make an informed decision on the best location for the care you need at that time.
• Heart Failure Zone Tool: Patients with heart failure are provided a tool that helps them recognize their symptoms using a simple “zone” system—green means all clear, yellow means caution and call your doctor or the nurse triage call center and red means get emergency help. This helps you know when to seek care and where to go.
• Smarter Referrals: Instead of sending everyone with heart failure symptoms to the emergency room, nurses at the triage call center now use a specialized real-time data-driven checklist and algorithm to decide when you can safely be treated by your regular doctor, through a telemedicine visit, or in an office setting or urgent care. This process ensures patients receive timely care in the most appropriate setting and minimizes unnecessary visits to the hospital.

Real Results for Real People

Since launching this new approach, WellSpan Health has seen big improvements:

• Most patients who call with mild or moderate heart failure symptoms are now cared for outside the hospital.
• Fewer people are sent to the emergency room unnecessarily.
• Patients who call with symptoms and are treated in clinics or through telemedicine rarely end up needing follow-up emergency care later.
• The program has saved our patients and the Medicare program millions of dollars in health care costs — money that can be used to improve services for everyone.

“These results represent a remarkable reduction in avoidable, medically unnecessary emergency department and inpatient care,” shared Brandon Danz, vice president of Population Health at WellSpan. “Our teams remain focused on improving care quality and health outcomes through better education and referral processes to provide timely care in the right location.”

In fact, the New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst recently published WellSpan’s work so it could be shared with other health systems in caring for heart failure patients.

What This Means for You

If you or a loved one has heart failure, you can feel confident that WellSpan Health is using the latest, most thoughtful approach to care. You’ll get personalized advice from nurses and caregivers who know your health history, and you’ll be guided to the best place for treatment, whether that’s your doctor’s office, a virtual visit or to the hospital if needed.

This is about making sure you get the care you need, when you need it, without unnecessary stress or hospital stays. It’s one more reason to trust WellSpan Health as your trusted partner in heart health.