Nationally, half of Medicare patients hospitalized with heart failure are readmitted to the hospital within six months, a reflection of the difficulty patients and family caregivers face in successfully managing this chronic condition. In a new Commonwealth Fund case study, Douglas McCarthy tells the story of how UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco was able to slash rates of all-cause heart failure readmissions for its elderly patient population—by 46 percent for 30-day readmissions. The UCSF program seeks to improve the transition to home care or skilled nursing care by emphasizing patient education and follow-up care.