This finding, in turn, underscores that the road to improved patient care and survival in HF is not necessarily paved with avoidance of hospitalizations. B This article refers to 'Frequency, trends and institutional variation in 30-day all-cause mortality and unplanned readmissions following hospitalisation for heart failure in Australia and New Zealand' by C. Labrosciano I et al i ., published in this issue on pages 31-40. b Heart failure (HF) is a condition associated with frequent hospitalizations needed to decongest patients with intravenous diuretics, whilst closely monitoring biochemistry and thoroughly evaluating the patients' cardiac and wider health status. The decision of whether or not to hospitalize a patient is complex, and often depends on many factors beyond clinical assessment of HF status, including comorbidity, patient and physician preferences, logistic and other practical issues. [Extracted from the article]