A new survey from digital health company Vivalink has found that patients with cardiac conditions favour flexible-home based cardiac rehabilitation care, though its appeal depends on a programme meeting certain terms.
By garnering the thoughts of 150 patients with a variety of cardiac conditions, Vivalink found that 79% of respondents would be very or somewhat likely to participate in at-home care when given the choice, while 68% would prefer a largely home-based or hybrid approach to cardiac rehabilitation.
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A large portion of the survey participants also highlighted their trust in wearables for at-home cardiac monitoring, management and care, with 78% stating they would be comfortable to use a wearable in this setting. Meanwhile, just over 80% said they were confident the device could accurately capture appropriate information their care team needs.
When asked what traits they would most value in a wearable, patients commonly pointed to the device’s ability to automatically transfer health data to care teams, with 63% touting this as the most important factor in making a wearable easy to use. They also focused on the comfortability of the device, as well as simple instructions and setup.
Though a strong proportion of surveyed participants had a vested interest in at-home care, there were conditions that would have to be met to solidify their interest – including continued connectivity with their care teams, which generally ranked as equally important to having flexible and easy-to-use home-based rehabilitation equipment.
On the topic of such equipment, patients also raised concerns about the practicality of home usage, as 40% and 37% were apprehensive around their potential lack of motivation to exercise alone and the lack of space at home for the necessary rehabilitation equipment, respectively.
Another patient-raised issue was around cost and coverage, as 60% said they would not pay out of pocket for a home-based programme. However, 87% of participants noted they would be more likely to participate in at-home care if insurance providers covered such cardiac rehabilitation options.
Uptake of at-home cardiac care on the rise
The results of this survey come as cardiac care shifts away from the clinic towards the at-home setting, with several options such as digital health technologies (DHTs) and wearables becoming an established part of the cardiac treatment, rehabilitation and management paradigm.
However, payers do not yet widely reimburse such devices on a global scale, meaning patients often have to pay out-of-pocket for these options – potentially locking individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds out of treatment.
Despite this hurdle, which will be necessary to overcome to facilitate the widespread adoption of at-home technologies for cardiac rehabilitation, a recent report from GlobalData forecasts that the wearable tech sector will become increasingly lucrative in the coming years, reaching a value of just over $232bn by 2030. Analysts predict that hearables, driven by tech giants such as Apple, and smart watches will be key drivers of future growth in this segment.
