Project lead: Justin Braver
The Medibank heart health study is investigating the uptake, adherence, effectiveness and impact of a remotely delivered digital cardiac rehabilitation program, delivered nationally to private health insurance patients across Australia.
Heart Health at Home is the first national and entirely remotely delivered cardiac rehabilitation program in Australia. Participants receive personalised weekly telehealth consultations, over 6–8 weeks, delivered by an experienced cardiac rehabilitation nurse with extra support provided through the Medibank Heart Health app powered by Cardihab (an evidence-based mobile application developed by the CSIRO). The program provides Medibank members with extra support to help them manage their recovery, better understand and manage their risk factors for cardiovascular disease and take positive steps to reduce their risk of a future cardiovascular event. Medibank Members who have had certain cardiac events or cardiac hospitalisations are eligible.
This project is a translational research body of work, comprising a series of studies, namely:
- qualitative evaluation
- propensity matched effectiveness study
- health economic/cost utility study.
The objective of the intervention is to overcome the barriers to cardiac rehabilitation participation by increasing access, decrease readmissions and secondary cardiac events and improve health outcomes. Insights from this study will inform real-world implementation.