A Business Case for Integrating Heart Failure Care
What is a business case and why do I need one?
A business case is a written proposal that contains justification and evidence for a new initiative, the development of an existing program or service, or securing support for an ongoing program or service, that clearly outlines for the readers (i.e. key stakeholders) the value that the initiative will deliver.
All organizations have time and budget constraints, and competing priorities. A well-written business case can help increase the likelihood that your proposal is viewed as a priority by explicitly communicating to the leaders and potential sponsors in your organization how your proposed initiative will help the organization achieve its objectives (i.e. alignment with the organization’s mandate and strategic direction).
Who is my target audience?
Whether you are a heart failure (HF) spoke, hub, or node, the target audience for your business case is anyone you feel can support or engage in a local integrated HF care initiative. This can include clinical and administrative leadership such as hospital CEOs, Medical Directors, FHT or CHC Executive Directors, your Local Ontario Health Team leads, HF clinic leads, as well as any peers and colleagues you think should become involved. This is not a comprehensive list, and can include anyone depending upon your local environment and starting point.
What will I find in this Toolkit section?
Recognizing that approaches may differ depending on the level of HF care you represent, the following templates, with some pre-populated suggestions are included:
- A Business Case for Integrating Heart Failure Care
- Integrated Heart Failure Care Frequently Asked Questions
To inform your business case, consider:
- Gathering local heart failure data to help build your case, such as prevalence of HF in your area, and outcomes data such as mortality and readmission rates. See Health Quality Ontario’s ‘Heart Failure Quality Standard’ webpage for readily available Ontario HF data, by region, under ‘Data Table’.
- Conducting a preliminary environmental scan to understand your local HF care environment (Environmental Scanning)
- Conducting preliminary patient and caregiver engagement to understand the patient and caregiver HF priorities in your local context (Patient and Caregiver Engagement).