Nurse-Led Cardiac Rehabilitation Care Coordination Program: Improving Functional Outcomes for Patients Through Automatic Referral and Effective Care Coordination.

Purpose: The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the impact of automated cardiac rehabilitation (CR) referral and nurse care coordination on patient and program outcomes. Specifically, the aim was to identify whether differences exist in physical and psychological function at CR Phase 2 enrollment and completion and CR Phase 2 participation and completion for hospitalized patients who receive in-person CR nurse visits versus phone consultation. Using a retrospective pre-/post-intervention descriptive design, a purposive sampling technique was used to select groups with matching clinical attributes. Dates were selected to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on CR program enrollment and completion.

Methods: Data were abstracted from the patient electronic medical record, telemetry documentation, and CR referral tracking tool. Patient descriptors included age, sex, cardiac diagnosis/procedure (post-coronary artery bypass graft surgery, myocardial infarction, percutaneous coronary intervention, heart failure, and aortic valve repair and replacement) and cardiac risk stratification category. Patient functional outcomes included the 6-min walk test and metabolic equivalents of task levels for functional capacity; psychological function was measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire assessment. Program outcomes included discharge to CR Phase 2 enrollment, CR sessions, and completion.

Results: Each group had 52 patients. Age was 64 ± 12 yr, 68% were male. Perhaps indications for CR included coronary artery bypass graft surgery (44%), myocardial infarction (19%), percutaneous coronary intervention (20%), heart failure (10%), aortic valve repair and replacement (8%). Cardiac risk was low in 30%, intermediate in 65%, and high in 5%. The post-intervention group compared with the pre-intervention group had a shorter discharge to CR Phase 2 enrollment (35 ± 18 d vs 41 ± 28 d, P = .078) and significantly fewer sessions required for CR completion.

Conclusion: Automated CR referral and nurse care coordination visits for hospitalized patients decreased the transition period between CR Phase 1 and 2. Patients were physically and psychologically prepared for earlier CR Phase 2 enrollment and successfully completed the program in fewer days than the pre-intervention group.