This study will attempt to answer the following questions:
1. How do the clinical characteristics of heart failure patients admitted to hospital who receive an echocardiogram differ from those that did not receive an echocardiogram?
2. How do the outcomes (mortality at 30 days and one year) of heart failure patients who did not receive an echocardiogram differ from those that did?
3. How did management of heart failure patients, in terms of medication prescription at hospital discharge, coronary artery revascularization or valvular surgery, differ between those undergoing echocardiography and those that did not?
