Elusive but not illusive

What’s the least likely scenario – meeting a unicorn or experiencing joined-up healthcare when managing coordinated care for people with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF)? HFpEF is a condition where the heart pumps normally but is too stiff to fill properly, and many people who experience it also have multiple health conditions.

In this BMJ Quality and Safety editorial, Carol Sinnott, a GP and THIS Institute Senior Clinical Research Associate, looks at the issue and at solutions from around the world, such as new roles, bottom-up innovative care pathways, and improving interoperability of data for real-time shared patient care. Carol and colleagues argue that focusing on patient-oriented outcomes and preferences within guidelines and care pathways could improve both the experience and the quality of care for people who have more than one disease or condition at the same time, including heart failure.