Heart failure study: analysis begins
08/04/2026Can a new form of care improve the quality of life for people with heart failure? A study by the German Centre for Heart Failure is investigating this. An initial milestone has now been reached.
People with chronic heart failure are often cared for by both their GP and a cardiologist. In day-to-day clinical practice, however, collaboration between the various healthcare professionals does not always work as well as it could. This can mean that treatments are not adjusted in good time and that patients do not receive the level of care they need.
This is precisely where the HI-PLUS study comes in. This nationwide care study by the German Centre for Heart Failure (DZHI) in Würzburg is investigating whether closer collaboration between GPs’ and cardiologists’ practices, as well as with medical assistants specially trained in heart failure, can improve care for people with heart failure. The results are being evaluated by the Institute of Clinical Epidemiology and Biometry (ICE-B) at the University of Würzburg. With the completion of the follow-up of the last study participants, the study has now reached an important milestone.
Over a three-year period, 712 patients were enrolled in the study, 24 per cent of whom were female. A total of 585 completed the twelve-month follow-up. The average age of the participants was around 69 years. The vast majority of participants had mild or moderate impairment due to heart failure.
Medical assistants play a key role
A total of 55 cardiology practices across Germany were recruited, and 48 actively took part in the study. In the practices of the control group, standard care continued as usual. For the intervention group, 70 medical assistants from the cardiology practices were trained at the DZHI in seven courses based on a curriculum developed by the German Society of Cardiology.
In the HI-PLUS programme, these medical assistants play a key role by carrying out care and case management for patients. They support patients, assist with self-management, monitor treatment and coordinate care between cardiology and GP practices. A digital platform developed specifically for the study facilitates the exchange of relevant information and the recording of data such as weight, blood pressure and ECG.
Initial results published
The pilot study, recently published in the journal ‘Clinical Research in Cardiology’, evaluated the study procedures and demonstrated that these can be successfully integrated into everyday practice. The study procedures and the digital platform proved to be workable and were well received by the participants – both patients and the participating practices. The phase of scientific evaluation is now beginning.
“The HI-PLUS study addresses recognised gaps in heart failure care. Should it prove effective, it could serve as a scalable model for integrated heart failure care throughout Germany,” comments Martha Schutzmeier. The lead author of the pilot study is a research assistant at the Institute of Clinical Epidemiology and Biometry (ICE-B) at the University of Würzburg, where she is responsible for project coordination.
The extensive data sets will be evaluated here over the coming months. Will the new care model actually have a positive impact on the quality of life and care for patients with heart failure? Can closer collaboration between GP practices, cardiology practices and HI-MFA improve the quality of life of study participants and reduce hospital admissions?
Detecting impending decompensation at an early stage
“Every hospital admission that is avoided means a better quality of life for patients with heart failure and is often associated with a better prognosis. It is therefore crucial to recognise impending decompensation at an early stage and treat it on an outpatient basis before hospital admission becomes necessary,” says Professor Stefan Störk, Head of the Department of ‘Clinical Research and Epidemiology’ and of the training programme for heart failure nursing staff and specialist heart failure assistants at the DZHI. “With the completion of the follow-up period, we have reached a crucial milestone. Now, for the first time, we can comprehensively investigate the benefits of the new care model for patients with heart failure in everyday clinical practice.”
Publication
Schutzmeier, M., Rücker, V., Widmann, J. et al. HI-PLUS: design of a cluster-randomised trial evaluating structured case management with telemonitoring to improve quality of life in heart failure. Clin Res Cardiol (2026), https://doi.org/10.1007/s00392-026-02904-8
