Dr. O’Connor received a $100,000 seed grant to create the Duke Heart Failure Program. The proposed strategy included, a geographically distinct unit for CHF, multidisciplinary care teams that included physicians (cardiology, family practice, and internists), nurses, dieticians, therapists, pharmacists, and administrative staff, formally defined care guidelines that identify patients based on New York Health Association (NYHA) functional classification, and an outpatient disease management clinic, which served as the foundation for the Same Day Access Clinic.