Abstract 12446: Effectiveness of a Digital Health Enabled Cardiac Rehabilitation Program in Reducing Recurrent Events For Private Health Insurance Patients in Australia

Abstract

Introduction: Secondary prevention programs are paramount to avoid cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality. However, they are underutilized. Technology-enabled programs provide a new frontier to break down access barriers and enhance health service delivery. We implemented a telehealth program using a cardiac rehabilitation (CR) mobile app for privately insured patients following a hospitalization for coronary heart disease. Hypothesis: It was hypothesized that patients participating in a digitally-enabled CR program would have improved health behaviors and less recurrent events at 30-days to 12-months post discharge compared with propensity matched controls. Methods: Eligible patients received the Smart-CR mobile app, supplemented with telehealth consultations. Clinical and lifestyle changes, psychological well-being, quality of life and medication adherence were assessed at the beginning and 8-weeks following participation in the program. Using propensity matching methods, we compared rehospitalization and mortality rates of the digital-CR group (n=160) with a traditionally delivered CR group (n=115) and patients who did not undertake any form of CR (n=266). Results: Among 160 patients (35% regional/remote, 70% male and 78% aged over 60 years), physical activity levels increased from 128 minutes/week to 300 minutes/week and systolic blood pressure decreased by 5 mmHg. There were improvements in most other clinical, behavioral and lifestyle risk factors, including functional capacity, depression, anxiety, and quality of life. At 60 days, digital-CR reduced cardiac-related readmissions by 52% (RR 0.48; 95% CI: 0.24 to 0.93) compared to no CR. At 90 days, traditional CR decreased all cause readmissions by 36% (RR 0.64; 95% CI: 0.44 to 0.94) compared to non-attendance to CR. There were no other pairwise differences between groups at 30, 60 or 90 days. Health economic analyses and extended outcomes to 12 months post hospitalization are in process. Conclusion: A remotely delivered, technology-enabled CR program was effective in reducing hospital readmissions and improving cardiovascular risk. A randomized controlled trial is underway to test the generalizability of these findings in community participants.