AHRQ introduces program to help increase cardiac rehab after coronary events

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has announced a $6 million, 3-year project designed to save lives by increasing patient participation in cardiac rehabilitation after heart attacks, heart failure, angioplasty, or heart surgery. Gopal Khanna, M.B.A., AHRQ’s director said in a news release that programs will include on-the-ground training with an online platform to curate and promote urgently needed resources.

Rehab programs have been shown to reduce cardiac-related death by almost 30 percent, hospital admissions by 31 percent and lowers healthcare costs. Yet, only 20 percent of the almost one million patients in the U.S. who qualify for a cardio rehab program participates in one. AHRQ says low participation is highest among older and sicker patients, women, minorities and patients with lower socioeconomic status or education.

AHRQ points to research that shows increasing cardiac rehabilitation participation from about 20 percent to 70 percent could save nearly 25,000 lives and prevent about 180,000 hospitalizations a year.

So, why is participation so low? AHRQ cited the following suggestions:

· limited awareness of cardiac rehabilitation’s benefits among some clinicians

· even when referrals are made, patients often don’t enroll or leave rehabilitation prematurely.

· lack of follow-up with primary care clinicians

· competing work or home responsibilities

· scarcity of programs in rural areas or low-income communities

· some programs lack awareness of women’s needs, language barriers, and cultural sensitivity

Abt Associates won the AHRQ contract and will begin to partner with and train at least 100 hospitals and health systems to increase rehabilitation referrals, enrollment and retention. These efforts will apply strategies in the new Million Hearts®/AACVPR Cardiac Rehabilitation Change Package, a quality improvement action guide developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR).  Receptive hospitals will be encouraged to implement two strategies proven to increase cardiac rehabilitation participation: automated referrals of patients who qualify, and a trained liaison to help make the referrals happen.

AHRQ says participating hospitals and others will also benefit from a website that will emphasize the negative impacts of cardiac rehabilitation underuse, the value of increased utilization, and the availability of existing resources to promote referrals, enrollment and retention.