Chronic Heart Failure Assistance by Telephone Study: data

The CHAT study was a randomised control trial of telephone support for Chronic Heart Failure (CHF) patients at high risk of rehospitalisation. This project was funded by the NHMRC, Heart Foundation of Australia and the Medical Benefits Fund. The project implemented the first Australia-wide trial of telephone support for CHF patients. The aims of the study were to determine whether automated telephone support would improve quality of life and reduce death & hospital admission for rural and remote CHF patients, and to test this system of care as an exemplar of a novel chronic disease management strategy in areas remote from access to multi-disciplinary care. The automated telephone support comprised an interactive telecommunication software tool (Telewatch) with follow-up by trained cardiac nurses. Patients with a general practice (GP) diagnosis of heart failure were randomised to telephone support (217 patients) or usual care (188 patients) using a cluster design involving 136 GPs throughout Australia. Results showed that automated telephone support to rural & remote heart failure patients resulted in a 30% reduction in risk of all-cause death & hospitalisation.