Table 1 A priori implementation strategies with definitions

A. CATEGORY: Planning

A.1. Develop stakeholder buy-in:

-Use of champions

Prepare and train self-care coaches to serve as champions and provide them with resources to market/advocate for GUIDED-HF. Potential champions: principal investigators, department chairs, ED staff, and self-care coaches

 -Consensus discussions

Include providers and other stakeholders, including self-care coaches, in discussions on the importance of GUIDED-HF and its continued use in the ED setting throughout the study. Potential targets: ED providers, self-care coaches, and opinion leaders at each site

 A.2. Marketing

Use strategies that will increase the awareness and knowledge of staff on GUIDED-HF. Potential strategies: study flier for distribution by site champions

B. CATEGORY: Educate

 B.1. Conduct educational meetings

Hold meetings targeted toward providers, administrators, other organizational stakeholders, and community, patient/consumer, and family stakeholders to teach them about the clinical innovation. Develop tools and guidelines to support stakeholder learning

 B.2. Develop and distribute educational material

Develop educational material for GUIDED-HF. Potential distribution strategies: email, print, word-of-mouth/in-person, workstation reminders

C. CATEGORY: Quality Management

 C.1. Adapting workflow processes

Change workflow processes to facilitate integration of the intervention. Potential strategies: create a checkbox for GUIDED-HF documentation or best practice alert

D. CATEGORY: Restructuring

 D.1. Audit and feedback

Collect and summarize clinical performance data over a specified time and give it to clinicians and administrators in the hopes of changing provider behavior