What makes a patient eligible?

1. are on the Heart Failure register
   
2. have an unresolved heart failure diagnosis after 1st April 2023 (regardless of Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction or reduced ejection fraction).
   

A common reason for being unable to achieve this indicator is that patients have been registered with the practice with an existing diagnosis of heart failure without an echo or specialist assessment.  These patients need an echo or specialist assessment within 6 months of registration.  It is worth building into your initial patient registration process a way of checking patients with a heart failure diagnosis to see if they have had an echo/specialist assessment or not.
Electronic records transfer means that certain reports run regularly are able to quickly identify patients who require an assessment.

How to achieve the indicator

1. an echo or specialist assessment code in the 6 months prior to a heart failure diagnosis made in your practice
   

1. ​an echo or specialist assessment code in the 6 months following registration with the practice if the patient had been diagnosed before registering with the practice 
   

What will remove patients from eligibility?

1. Patient was registered in the 6 months before the end of the contract year
1. and were diagnosed with heart failure before registering with the practice
   
2. and have no record of an echo or specialist assessment in the contract year
   
   
2. Patient was diagnosed with heart failure before registering with the practice
   
1. and were coded with echocardiogram service unsuitable within 6 months of registering with the practice 
   
   
3. Patient was diagnosed with heart failure before registering with the practice
   
1. and were coded with heart failure quality indicator care was recorded as unsuitable within 6 months of registering with the practice 
   
   
4. Patient is on the palliative care register without a code signifying the patient no longer requires palliative care
5. Patient was diagnosed with heart failure in the last 3 months of the contract year
   
6. Patient was newly registered with the practice in the last 3 months of the contract year

If a patient achieves the indicator at any point during the year, any exclusions that have also been added are ignored.

Codes indicating the patient has chosen not to receive angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor (ACEDEC_COD)