For many people diagnosed with heart failure – which almost invariably results in a hospital stay – the next stop is a skilled nursing facility. While their physician  often will reassure them that it’s just for a short time until they can get back to their home, in reality, that stay is long (averaging 144 days). And often they find themselves back in the hospital and back to a nursing facility again.

In a new study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Mayo Clinic researchers and collaborators report new understanding and new hope for heart failure patients.

Read full news release on the Mayo Clinic News Network.

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This research came out of the Mayo Clinic Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery. The researchers used data from the Rochester Epidemiology Project (REP), a collaboration of clinics, hospitals and other medical facilities in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The REP involves community members who have agreed to share their medical records for research, and is administratively managed through the center.

Tags: Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery, Findings, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Rochester Epidemiology Project