Abstract 18110: Assessing the Impact of a Multidisciplinary Cardio-Kidney Care Team on the Overall Care Satisfaction in Patients With Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction And Chronic Kidney Disease

Abstract

Background: Patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) experience fragmented care in the usual referral-based model given poor care coordination between subspecialists and primary care clinicians (PCCs). Multidisciplinary specialty care teams can improve care coordination, increase use of guideline-directed medical therapies (GDMT), and potentially increase patient satisfaction. Methods: We conducted a randomized controlled trial in a single-center tertiary care institution, enrolling patients with both HFrEF (ejection fraction <50%) and CKD (stages 2-5, not on hemodialysis) over 6 months. The patients’ PCCs were randomized to either the control arm in which usual care was continued, or to the treatment arm where PCCs were supported by a virtually organized cardio-kidney team with a heart failure specialist and nephrologist. Treatment arm PCCs received recommendations from the cardio-kidney team via electronic medical record secure messaging sharing guidance on GDMT use, necessary lab tests, etc. Patients’ quality of life and symptoms were assessed at both baseline and 3 months via the Kidney Disease Quality of Life (KDQoL) survey and Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ), respectively. Results: 95 patients had 3 month follow-up data (treatment n=47, control=48). The mean patient age was 67.4±10.8, and 61% were male. The majority (76%) were African American with mean EF of 35.5 ±11.0. The treatment group had higher reported and clinically significant (>at least a 5-point change) improvement of KCCQ scores from baseline to 3 months (52%) compared to the control group (38%), however, this was not statistically significantly different (p=0.15). Meanwhile, the proportion of deterioration was 39% and 40% in the treatment and control groups, respectively. There were no significant differences in KDQOL scores between or within both groups when comparing the baseline to 3 month data. Conclusion: Implementing a multidisciplinary care team to support PCCs is a feasible intervention and at 3 months, there was an increase (although statistically insignificant) in KCCQ scores. A longer duration of follow-up may be better able to assess the effects of multidisciplinary care team models.