Reducing Heart Failure Rehospitalizations Through Structured Patient Education

BACKGROUND: Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) is a leading cause of hospital readmissions, often driven by inadequate patient understanding of disease management, medication adherence, and postdischarge care. PROJECT RATIONALE: A root-cause analysis at our institution identified patient nonadherence with guideline-directed medical therapy, lifestyle recommendations, and follow-up appointments as major contributors to HFrEF rehospitalizations, prompting development of a structured inpatient education initiative. PROJECT SUMMARY: This single-center quality improvement project compared HFrEF rehospitalization rates before and after implementation of a standardized patient education initiative. Patients hospitalized during January and February 2025 served as the preintervention cohort, while those hospitalized during May and June 2025 received structured education. All patients were monitored for 90 days postdischarge. After the intervention, overall 90-day rehospitalizations decreased from 37.6% to 15.7%, and 30-day readmissions decreased from 9 to 1. TAKE-HOME MESSAGES: Patient-centered education should be a foundational component of comprehensive HFrEF care. Structured inpatient education can significantly reduce 30-day and 90-day rehospitalization rates.