Efforts to contain rising costs for hospital acute care have resulted in shorter hospital stays for patients with acutely decompensated heart failure. These shorter stays may not allow for adequate diuresis, titration of oral medications, or for patients to receive the full benefit of intravenously (IV) administered medications. In addition to shorter stays when hospitalized, physicians are exploring ways to treat patients in the outpatient setting to avoid hospitalization. Although there is increasing interest among clinicians in the use of outpatient IV therapy for the treatment of advanced heart failure, there is no consensus among clinicians regarding patient selection, dosing, or treatment duration. The use of IV inotropic agents (drugs that influence and or affect muscle contractility) such as milrinone or dobutamine in this setting is controversial and may lead to increased mortality. Indeed, the ACC/AHA (American College of Cardiology and American Hospital Association) guidelines warn that long-term intermittent use of IV inotropes for treatment of left ventricular dysfunction is of "unproved value and not recommended." Yet, despite these guidelines, clinicians use inotropes in the outpatient setting because there is no currently approved alternative therapy. Thus, there is an unmet need for effective outpatient treatment of advanced chronic heart failure to improve quality of life and/or reduce the number of hospital admissions for heart failure.