Reducing heart failure risk standardized readmissions rates (RSRRs) continues to be a challenge in the United States. Among Medicare beneficiaries, the U.S. national rate for heart failure RSRRs is 23, and Georgia only has 3 hospitals with heart failure RSRRs that are better than the national rate. The hospital component of the chronic care model (CCM) was the theoretical framework used in this study because the model was designed to assist heath care organizations in improving chronic care outcomes. Researchers have indicated that the Hospital to Home Initiative (H2H), a national quality improvement campaign launched in 2009, is effective in reducing RSSRs. However, very little research has been conducted to determine which specific H2H strategies and categories of strategies are associated with reducing heart failure RSRRs in Georgia. The purpose of this nonexperimental, cross-sectional quantitative research study was to address this gap. The H2H Survey used in this study is a valid instrument that was previously used in a national study. Surveys were sent to 35 hospitals in Georgia participating in the H2H. A series of one-way ANOVAs were used to test the hypotheses. Key findings were as follows: (a) heart failure RSRRs were reduced when hospitals implemented the H2H, (b) the number of implemented H2H strategies was associated with a reduction in heart failure RSRRs, and (c) categories of strategies were associated with a reduction in heart failure RSRRs. These findings can be used for promoting positive social change because hospital administrators can implement changes using effective strategies to reduce both heart failure RSRRs and government penalties associated with these readmissions.

Heart failure is ranked as one of the leading causes of hospitalizations and mortality among adults of all racial/ethnic groups in the United States. Telemonitoring, as a homecare intervention for heart failure management, has been used across all groups although the benefit for Hispanics not established. The purpose of this retrospective, quantitative study was to determine the differences in hospital readmission between Hispanic, non-Hispanic Black, and non-Hispanic White patients with heart failure disease who either received or did not receive home telemonitoring services from a homecare agency in Connecticut. The research questions for this study examined the effect of home telemonitoring, race, age, gender, and insurance on heart failure hospitalization across the 3 groups. The chronic care model was used as the theoretical framework for this study because it offers a method for reforming healthcare to ensure optimization in chronic disease management. A purposive sample of 138 records of patients admitted between January 1, 2012 and June 30, 2017 with a diagnosis of heart failure provided the data for the study. Data were analyzed by conducting a simple and multiple logistic regression analysis. The key findings of the simple logistic analysis showed that only Hispanics who used telemonitoring were almost 4 times less likely to be readmitted to the hospital compared to Hispanics who did not use telemonitoring (p = 0.04). The multiple logistic analysis revealed race, age, gender, and insurance were not significant predictors of readmissions (p > 0.05). The findings from this study may promote positive social change by providing healthcare providers with a better understanding of the effects of home telemonitoring for treating adult Hispanic patients with heart failure disease.