[Healthcare quality and safety in left ventricular assist device therapy from the patient perspective: A qualitative study on relevant aspects of care].

INTRODUCTION

Implantation of a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) requires extensive aftercare. It is largely unclear how aftercare should be designed from the patients' perspective. Implications can be developed based on an examination of the healthcare context. Its main components are mapped on five tiers in the Human Factors of Home Health Care Model by Henriksen, Joseph, and Zayas-Caban (2009). Using this model, the present study explores the patient perspective on the context of healthcare after an LVAD implantation.

METHODS

We employed a qualitative cross-sectional study, in which LVAD patients participated in semi-structured interviews. The transcribed interviews were analyzed using content analysis. First, relevant meaning units were identified and deductively categorized into the model. Then, categories of care-related aspects were developed inductively within each of the model tiers.

RESULTS

We interviewed 18 patients aged 33 to 78 years who had been living with the LVAD between a few weeks and more than 10 years. Twenty-eight categories related to care aspects were developed within the model tiers: 3 categories on patient characteristics (e.g., self-management skills), 3 on caregiver characteristics (e.g., professionalism), 11 healthcare-related tasks and requirements (e.g., wound management), 8 on factors of the physical environment (e.g., controllability), medical devices and technologies (e.g., carrying systems for external components), and cultural, social and community environment (e.g., interaction with peers), as well as 3 on external environmental factors (e.g., healthcare infrastructure).

DISCUSSION

The present study represents the first investigation focusing on aspects of the healthcare context influencing healthcare quality and safety from the perspective of LVAD patients in Germany. LVAD aftercare covers a broad and complex range of tasks. For this, patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals need specific knowledge, which is lacking in various respects. In the first place, this is compensated by the patients' own initiative and the personal care provided by the VAD outpatient clinics.

CONCLUSION

Three key recommendations to optimize aftercare from the patient perspective are derived: Patients would benefit from a more flexible and decentralized aftercare concept, to which telemedicine could contribute. LVAD-specific expertise among general healthcare providers is perceived as insufficient by patients and could be strengthened through training and counseling services. The broad scope of tasks and the high level of responsibilities in LVAD aftercare pose challenges for patients and their families, which could be addressed through continuous information and training programs.