Practice guidelines: role of internists and primary care physicians.

This article discusses practice guidelines for internists and primary care physicians who care for patients at risk for heart failure (HF).These guidelines include identifying the risk factors for the development of HF, identifying patients at risk for the development of HF, learning guideline goals for treatment and other recommendations concerning the management of patients at risk for HF, performing serial assessment of how well guideline goals have been met in patients at risk for HF, performing serial assessment of patients at risk for HF to determine possible progression of disease,considering consultation with other health personnel for patients with progressive stages of HF, enlisting hospitals and other care facilities to promote evidence-based management of patients in all stages of HF, and accessing educational materials for patients and other health care personnel.