In Sweden hospital costs account for up to 75% of
the total costs for heart failure, while drug costs only
account for up to 8% w4x. This has led to an increased
effort to improve outcomes for patients with heart
failure. There are several problems in the management
of heart failure patients that need to be solved.
Only a minority of the heart failure patients receives
optimal treatment. Swedish data suggest that less
than 30% of the heart failure patients are prescribed
an ACE-inhibitor and then in doses far below those
used in clinical trials w5x. Patient education in order to
teach self-care is often insufficient and lack of
knowledge may cause non-compliance. Studies from