Effectiveness of inpatient and outpatient strategies in increasing referral and utilization of cardiac rehabilitation: a prospective, multi-site study

Abstract

Abstract

Background Despite the evidence of benefit, cardiac rehabilitation (CR) remains highly underutilized. The present study examined the effect of two inpatient and one outpatient strategy on CR utilization: allied healthcare provider completion of referral (a policy that had been endorsed and approved by the cardiac program leadership in advance; PRE-APPROVED); CR intake appointment booked before hospital discharge (PRE-BOOKED); and early outpatient education provided at the CR program shortly after inpatient discharge (EARLY ED). In this prospective observational study, 2,635 stable cardiac inpatients from 11 Ontario hospitals completed a sociodemographic survey, and clinical data were extracted from charts. One year later, participants were a mailed survey that assessed CR use. Participating inpatient units and CR programs to which patients were referred were coded to reflect whether each of the strategies was used (yes/no). The effect of each strategy on participants’ CR referral and enrollment was examined using generalized estimating equations.

Results A total of 1,809 participants completed the post-test survey. Adjusted analyses revealed that the implementation of one of the inpatient strategies was significantly related to greater referral and enrollment (PRE-APPROVED: OR = 1.96, 95%CI = 1.26 to 3.05, and OR = 2.91, 95%CI = 2.20 to 3.85, respectively). EARLY ED also resulted in significantly greater enrollment (OR = 4.85, 95%CI = 2.96 to 7.95).

Conclusions These readily-implementable strategies could significantly increase access to and enrollment in CR for the cardiac population. The impact of these strategies on wait times warrants exploration.