Effect of post-discharge virtual wards on improving outcomes in heart failure and non-heart failure populations: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Unplanned hospital admissions in high-risk patients are common and costly in an increasingly frail chronic disease population. Virtual Wards (VW) are an emerging concept to improve outcomes in these patients. Purpose: To evaluate the effect of post-discharge VWs, as an alternative to usual community based care, on hospital readmissions and mortality among heart failure and non-heart failure populations. Data sources: Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, SCOPUS and CINAHL, from inception through to Jan 31, 2017; unpublished data, prior systematic reviews; reference lists. Study selection: Randomized trials of post-discharge VW versus community based, usual care that reported all-cause hospital readmission and mortality outcomes. Data extraction: Data were reviewed for inclusion and independently extracted by two reviewers. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration risk of bias tool. Data synthesis: In patients with heart failure, a post-discharge VW reduced risk of mortality (six trials, n = 1634; RR 0.59, 95% CI = 0.44–0.78). Heart failure related readmissions were reduced (RR 0.61, 95% CI = 0.49–0.76), although all-cause readmission was not. In contrast, a post-discharge VW did not reduce death or hospital readmissions for patients with undifferentiated high-risk chronic diseases (four trials, n = .3186). Limitations: Heterogeneity with respect to intervention and comparator, lacking consistent descriptions and utilization of standardized nomenclature for VW. Some trials had methodologic shortcomings and relatively small study populations. Conclusions: A post-discharge VW can provide added benefits to usual community based care to reduce all-cause mortality and heart failure-related hospital admissions among patients with heart failure. Further research is needed to evaluate the utility of VWs in other chronic disease settings.