Real-World Evaluation of a Digitally Enabled Cardiac Rehabilitation Program

After a heart event or procedure, patients are encouraged to participate in a cardiac rehabilitation (CR) program to improve their health and reduce the risk of future problems. These programs have been shown to improve heart health and reduce hospital readmissions and deaths. However, many patients face challenges attending in-person CR programs, particularly those residing in regional or remote areas. As a result, many patients worldwide do not participate in CR. Missing out on CR increases the risk of unplanned hospital visits. To overcome these challenges, digitally enabled cardiac rehabilitation programs provide an alternative. These programs use technology, such as mobile apps and telehealth, to deliver care remotely. Although these programs have the potential to make CR more accessible, there is still limited evidence about how well they work in real-world settings, including their impact on hospital visits and overall healthcare use. Therefore, the goal of this real-world observational study is to evaluate if a digitally enabled and remotely delivered cardiac rehabilitation (DeCR) program, called Heart Health at Home, can improve risk factors and hospital utilization in adults who have experienced a heart event or undergone a heart procedure. The questions it aims to answer are: 1. Does the DeCR intervention group have associated reductions in hospital readmissions, total hospital bed days, and mortality compared to the usual care group? 2. Do DeCR intervention patients have similar hospital utilization outcomes compared to traditional face-to-face cardiac rehabilitation patients? 3. Does the DeCR intervention have associated improvements in healthy lifestyle behaviors and clinical risk factors? 4. Does the DeCR intervention increase uptake and engagement to cardiac rehabilitation and what are participants' and cardiac nurses' experiences and perceptions of the program? 5. Is the DeCR intervention cost effective? Researchers will compare participants re