Emergency department physicians at all Kaiser Permanente Northern California hospitals now have access to a new computerized risk calculator designed to help evaluate patients with heart failure who present with new or worsening symptoms. The tool, known as STRIDE-HF (Systematic Tool for Risk Identification and Decision-making in Emergency Heart Failure), was developed by Kaiser Permanente researchers.
The risk calculator aims to assist doctors in determining which patients may be safely treated outside the hospital and which require admission. It assesses real-time data about a patient’s current status and health history to estimate their risk of experiencing a heart attack, another serious event, or death within 30 days.
Dana Sax, MD, MPH, research scientist with the Division of Research and an emergency medicine physician who led the development of STRIDE-HF, described the decade-long process: “It took us 10 years to go from identifying the need to better determine which patients were low risk and which patients were high risk to putting this tool in place in our emergency departments to help guide physician decision-making,” said Sax. “We had to develop and test the tool and build it into our electronic health record as well as collaborate with many specialists to bring the tool into the hospital setting.”
Once physicians input patient information into STRIDE-HF, they can view a calculated risk score that categorizes patients by their likelihood of experiencing serious outcomes within 30 days. Physicians may also access detailed reports for additional treatment guidance. High-risk patients are admitted for further care, while those identified as low or very low risk undergo further assessment before potentially being managed outside of hospital settings.
A recent study published in June in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Heart Failure evaluated over 13,000 Kaiser Permanente emergency department patients seen during 2023. The findings indicated that STRIDE-HF accurately identified individuals suitable for outpatient management.
Heart failure is a condition where the heart cannot pump enough blood for bodily needs; it can progressively damage organs such as kidneys and lead to fluid accumulation in lungs. Patients often seek emergency care when experiencing symptoms like shortness of breath, fatigue, weakness, or coughing.
Researchers noted that use of STRIDE-HF supported shared decision-making between physicians and patients regarding care plans.
