A 2020 Environmental Scan of Heart Failure Clinics in Ontario

Abstract Background Multi-disciplinary heart failure (HF) clinics decrease hospital admission and healthcare use, while improving patient outcomes. To understand the contemporary availability of HF clinics in Ontario, Canada and the services provided, we performed an environmental scan of physician- and nurse practitioner (NP)-led HF clinics. Methods Between November, 2019 and February, 2020, we identified Ontario HF clinics led by physicians or NPs. Following an invitation, we conducted a semi-structured interview to evaluate the services offered and qualitatively compared our findings to the results of the 2010 Ontario provincial survey. Results The number of HF clinics (36 vs. 34 in 2010) and physicians (157 vs. 143 in 2010) have not changed since the 2010 survey. Of the 36 clinics we identified, 30 participated in our interview (22 physician-led and 8 NP-led). Twenty-five clinics (83%) were hospital-based, of which 9 (30%) were part of an academic institution. Comparisons of our findings to the 2010 study on 30 clinics show an approximately, three-fold increase (p Conclusions Compared to the survey performed a decade ago, the number of HF clinics and physicians have not changed and the services provided remains heterogenous. However, the increased number of patients served suggest a greater demand for these clinics. Improving the accessibility of these clinics and standardizing the service model will be critical to improving patient outcomes.