Evaluation of a Web-Based Interactive Heart Failure Patient Simulation: A Pilot Study

Background: There is a gap between the evidence and the management of patients with heart failure. To improve knowledge uptake, we have developed a web-based heart failure simulation that was designed to be fun, realistic, and interactive. We sought to determine whether clinicians will use the web-based simulation of patients with heart failure and whether it will improve their knowledge compared to the latest heart failure guidelines. Methods: Internists were asked to manage 3 simulated patients with heart failure. We measured knowledge before and after the simulation, analyzed users' performance managing the cases, and assessed their satisfaction with the website. Results: With 10 internists, there was no change in knowledge seen with 69% in before and after test scores. There was a trend to improvement in the performance scores in how users managed the cases with 77.3% in the first case, 81.5% in the second case (P = 0.21 compared to the first score), and 85.0% in the third case (P = 0.02 compared to the first score). The participants' satisfaction with the website was high. Conclusions: In this pilot study, no change in short-term knowledge was seen with this web-based heart failure patient simulation. There was an improvement in management of simulated cases and user satisfaction was high.