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Background In Europe, more than 15 million people live with heart failure (HF). It imposes an enormous social, organizational and economic burden. As a reaction to impending impact on healthcare provision, different country-specific structures for HF-care have been established. The aim of this report is to provide an overview and compare the HF-care approaches of Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and the UK, and to open the possibility of learning from each other's experience. Methods A mixed methods approach was implemented that included a literature analysis, interviews and questionnaires with HF-patients and caregivers, and expert interviews with representatives from healthcare, health service research and medical informatics. Results The models of HF-care in all countries analyzed are based on the European Society of Cardiology guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of HF. Even though the HF-models differed in design and implementation in practice, key challenges were similar: (i) unequal distribution of care between urban and rural areas, (ii) long waiting times, (iii) unequal access to and provision of healthcare services, (iv) information and communication gaps and (v) inadequate implementation and financing of digital applications. Conclusion Although promising approaches exist to structure and improve HF-care, across the four countries, implementation was reluctant to embrace novel methods. A lack of financial resources and insufficient digitalization making it difficult to adopt new concepts. Integration of HF-nurses seems to be an effective way of improving current models of HF-care. Digital solutions offer further opportunities to overcome communication and coordination gaps and to strengthen self-management skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic diseases are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in Europe, accounting for more than 2/3 of all death causes and 75 % of the healthcare costs. Heart failure is one of the most prominent, prevalent and complex chronic conditions and is accompanied with multiple other chronic diseases. The current approach to care has important shortcomings with respect to diagnosis, treatment and care processes. A critical aspect of this situation is that interaction between stakeholders is limited and chronic diseases are usually addressed in isolation. Health care in Western countries requires an innovative approach to address chronic diseases to provide sustainability of care and to limit the excessive costs that may threaten the current systems. The increasing prevalence of chronic diseases combined with their enormous economic impact and the increasing shortage of healthcare providers are among the most critical threats. Attempts to solve these problems have failed, and future limitations in financial resources will result in much lower quality of care. Thus, changing the approach to care for chronic diseases is of utmost social importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]