Telemedicine Support for Primary Care Providers versus Usual Care in Patients with Heart Failure: Protocol of a Pragmatic Cluster Randomised Trial within the Brazilian Heart Insufficiency with Telemedicine (BRAHIT) Study

Leonardo Graever*, Aurora Felice Castro Issa, Viviane Belidio Pinheiro da Fonseca, Marcelo Machado Melo, Gabriel Pesce de Castro da Silva, Isabel Cristina Pacheco da Nóbrega, Leonardo Cançado Monteiro Savassi, Mariana Borges Dias, Maria Kátia Gomes, Jose Roberto Lapa e Silva, Raphael Mendonça Guimarães, Renato Cony Seródio, Anne Frølich, Henrik Gudbergsen, Janus Christian Jakobsen, Helena Dominguez

*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Heart failure is a prevalent condition and a frequent cause of hospital readmissions and poor quality of life. Teleconsultation support from cardiologists to primary care physicians managing patients with heart failure may improve care, but the effect on patient-relevant outcomes is unclear. We aim to evaluate whether collaboration through a novel teleconsultation platform in the Brazilian Heart Insufficiency with Telemedicine (BRAHIT) project, tested on a previous feasibility study, can improve patient-relevant outcomes. We will conduct a parallel-group, two-arm, cluster-randomised superiority trial with a 1:1 allocation ratio, with primary care practices from Rio de Janeiro as clusters. Physicians from the intervention group practices will receive teleconsultation support from a cardiologist to assist patients discharged from hospitals after admission for heart failure. In contrast, physicians from the control group practices will perform usual care. We will include 10 patients per each of the 80 enrolled practices (n = 800). The primary outcome will be a composite of mortality and hospital admissions after six months. Secondary outcomes will be adverse events, symptoms frequency, quality of life, and primary care physicians’ compliance with treatment guidelines. We hypothesise that teleconsulting support will improve patient outcomes.

Original languageEnglish
Article number5933
JournalInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Volume20
Issue number11
ISSN1661-7827
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.

Keywords

  • clinical competence
  • cluster randomized trial
  • heart failure
  • primary health care
  • telemedicine

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