The center is in one of the final phases of implementation of the MAIC Continuum project, promoted by Boehringer Ingelheim, which optimizes the transition to hospital discharge and improves the management of patients with heart failure (HF).
Heart failure is the leading cause of hospitalization in people over 65, accounting for 3 to 5% of all hospital admissions. Furthermore, 30% of deaths occur within one year of hospitalization. Due to the aging population, these hospital admissions for heart failure are projected to increase by up to 50% in the next 25 years . <sup>13</sup>
With the aim of improving the hospital discharge process for patients with heart failure, La Luz University Hospital is in an advanced stage of implementing the MAIC Continuum project , promoted by Boehringer Ingelheim. This project seeks to optimize the hospital discharge process and improve the management of patients with heart failure (HF), thus promoting continuity of care and minimizing the risk of hospital readmission. It is crucial to recognize that hospital discharge is a critical moment, when the patient is most vulnerable and requires standardized and early follow-up, as well as proper coordination between primary and hospital care teams to ensure, among other things, patient adherence to treatment and adequate monitoring of the patient's progress. Optimizing this process minimizes the risk of hospital readmissions and improves the patient's quality of life.
The La Luz University Hospital is the first private center to join the program and, as Dr. Roberto Martín Reyes , head of the Cardiology Service at the hospital, explains, “the MAIC Continuum project has given us the opportunity to develop and perfect an early and multidisciplinary care plan for patients with heart failure, with which we are managing to minimize the risk of readmission of patients with this pathology.”
For her part, Marta Carrera, director of Market Access & Healthcare Affairs at Boehringer Ingelheim Spain, states that “by participating in the MAIC Continuum project, the center has demonstrated its commitment to continuous improvement and clinical excellence to improve the health outcomes of patients with heart failure at one of the critical moments in the management of this pathology.”
Multidisciplinary approach to hospital discharge
The MAIC Continuum project defines the optimal process for transitioning from hospital to discharge for patients with heart failure and offers a series of tools to facilitate its implementation. The methodology is based on the multidisciplinary work of the various healthcare professionals involved in the patient's discharge and outpatient follow-up. “Thanks to this program, the cardiology, internal medicine, emergency, and primary care departments have an organized and standardized work plan for the care of patients with heart failure. This comprehensive approach to patient care is exceptional in the private healthcare sector, making MAIC Continuum an exciting project for all the physicians involved, led by Dr. Teresa Alvarado, head of the hospital's Heart Failure Unit , ” says Dr. Roberto Martín Reyes.
The plan is a flexible model and adjusts to the real context of each hospital that, in the first instance, performs a self-diagnosis of the situation, that is, it evaluates how the patient with heart failure is discharged from hospital and what factors can be improve from the different areas and professionals involved. Based on this self-assessment, an action plan is specified which is subsequently monitored and followed up and the impact is also evaluated based on process and result indicators.
Currently, a total of 25 Spanish hospitals participate in the MAIC Continuum project, which is part of the MAIC program (Care Models of Care for Patients with Heart Failure), a program that seeks to improve the health of people with heart failure and contribute to a more sustainable management model for the health system. The program also has the support of several societies, specifically with the scientific collaboration of the Heart Failure Association of the Spanish Society of Cardiology (SEC), as well as the endorsement of the Spanish Society of Internal Medicine (SEMI), the Spanish Society of Primary Care Physicians (SEMERGEN), the Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine (semFYC), the Spanish Society of Health Managers (SEDISA), the Spanish Society of Hospital Pharmacy (SEFH) and the Spanish Society of General Medicine (SEMG).