Heart failure is one of the most important and challenging public health problems of the 21 st century and is associated with hard outcomes, such as death and hospitalization. New treatments for heart failure, despite the decrease in mortality, have not contributed to the decrease in hospitalization rates. Patients admitted with heart failure have a high event rate (> 50%) with a mortality rate between 10 and 15% and a rehospitalization rate within 6 months after discharge of 30 to 40%. Three major causes seem to directly affect the rehospitalization of patients with heart failure: comorbidities, congestion and target-organ lesion. The transition from inpatient to outpatient is a period of vulnerability, due to the progressive nature complexity of heart failure, with an impact on prognosis and which can extend for up to 6 months after hospital discharge. The physician has an important role in the actions that can minimize the risk of hospitalization for heart failure and the multidisciplinary approach, associated with the implementation of good practices supported by scientific evidence, can reduce the risk of hospitalization. The use of routines that have been proven to reduce hospitalization should be used in Brazilian hospitals. The objective of this review was to discuss the main causes of hospitalization, their impact on heart failure evolution and strategies that can be used to reduce it.