Heart Failure Management – Education evening for GPs

This session aims to improve GPs’ understanding of heart failure management, focusing on patient management in the early stages following discharge from hospital. This will include how to safely uptitrate newer heart failure medications with the aim of improving morbidity, mortality and reducing hospitalisations.

Heart failure is an increasingly common condition in our ageing population. It carries a high rate of morbidity, mortality, and risk of hospital re-admissions. The risk of readmission is around 25 per cent in the first 30 days after hospitalisation. The use of appropriate guideline-directed medical therapy has been shown to reduce hospitalisation and improve mortality.  

Heart failure medications have changed significantly over the last 5 years, with medications such as sacubitril/valsartan, dapagliflozin and empagliflozin becoming mainstream for managing heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.  

There is sometimes reluctance to uptitrate in the community, perhaps due to lower levels of familiarity with these newer medications.  

This webinar aims to educate GPs on the different types of heart failure, how to diagnose heart failure and when to refer for specialist input (including how to refer to heart failure services at Western Health). We will focus on post-hospitalisation care of the heart failure patient, including providing guidance on the safe uptitration of heart failure medications based on current Australian guidelines, the deprescribing of potentially harmful medications and the provision of flexible diuretic plans.  

We will also discuss a patient-centred management plan including the importance of investigating and treating for comorbidities that may worsen heart failure (for example: sleep apnoea) and the importance of referrals to community services such as cardiac rehabilitation.  

Western Health’s heart failure nurses will also briefly describe their role in managing patients during their inpatient stay.  

Speaker - Dr Stavroula Papapostolou

Dr Stav Papapostolou is a cardiologist and the clinical lead of heart failure at Western Health. Her main interests in cardiology are heart failure management as well as cardiac imaging (echocardiography, coronary CTs and transoesophageal echo). She completed the majority of her advanced training in cardiology at Alfred Health, before undertaking a non-invasive cardiac imaging fellowship at Monash Health, and embarking on a PhD focusing on novel uses of cardiac MRI through Alfred Health.  

Learning outcomes:

By the end of this activity, participants will be able to:

• confidently assess and manage patients with suspected or confirmed Heart Failure and recognise when to refer for specialist input.  
• describe the management of patients with decompensated heart failure, and how to safely titrate heart failure medications.
• recognise the differences between heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), and the different medications and management strategies used.