The article proposes a care path intended to improve the standards of specialist care in the field of heart failure, in compliance with the criteria of effectiveness, efficiency and equity on which the Italian National Health Service (INHS) relies. A case study approach was undertaken. The attention was focused on the experience of the University Hospital "San Giovanni di Dio e Ruggi d’Aragona" located in Salerno, Southern Italy. In particular, data were collected from with the collaboration of the "Hospital Discharge Form" office. Examining a set of indicators - such as the average hospitalization and percentage of hospitalizations - about the Diagnosis-Related Group no. 127 "Heart failure and intensive cardiology shock" in the financial year 2017, we untangled the criticalities of the existing process and, adopting the Business Process Improvement (BPI) methodology, we proposed a process redesign. Technology, asset management, care paths, training, and monitoring were identified as the primary levers to enhance the standards of specialist care in the field of heart failure.
Keywords: Quality, heart failure, process improvement, BPI, organizational change.
Lucia Soriente, Silvio Cigolari, Alberto Gigantino, Chiara Aliberti, Pasquale Ardovino, Paola Adinolfi, Rocco Palumbo, in "MECOSAN" 115/2020, pp. 7-28, DOI:10.3280/MESA2020-115002