Despite the medical advancement seen in the last decades in cardiovascular medicine, heart failure (HF) remains a major public health problem worldwide. The prevalence of HF continues to rise with only a small improvement in survival having been achieved. HF is the most frequent cause for hospital admission among elderly patients, and hospitalisation accounts for the majority of costs of HF care. Little is known about why HF patients have poor outcomes following hospitalisation even when inhospital management had been successful. Given the growing prevalence of HF, a high spite the medical advancement seen in the last decades in cardiovascular medicine, heart failure (HF) remains a major public health problem worldwide. The prevalence of HF continues to rise with only a small improvement in survival having been achieved. HF is the most frequent cause for hospital admission among elderly patients, and hospitalisation accounts for the majority of costs of HF care. Little is known about why HF patients have poor outcomes following hospitalisation even when inhospital management had been successful. Given the growing prevalence of HF, a high 5-year mortality rate which is worse than that of many cancers and high hospital-activity costs, cost-effective approaches to reduce this burden are urgently required.