NHS cleared to use digital cardiac rehab programmes

Six digital health technologies (DHTs) that can help with the rehabilitation of people with cardiovascular disease have been recommended for use by the NHS in England.

The six platforms – Activate Your Heart, D REACH-HF, Digital Heart Manual, Gro Health HeartBuddy, KiActiv and myHeart – can be funded by the NHS for the next three years while further evidence of their benefits is gathered.

They deliver exercise programmes, education related to cardiovascular disease and its treatment, dietary advice, medication management, and psychological support, with some also linking to wearable devices that monitor physical activity levels, according to the health technology assessment (HTA) agency NICE.

Seven other DHTs – Beat Better, Datos Health, Get Ready, Luscii vitals, Pumping Marvellous Cardiac Rehab Platform, R Plus Health, and Sword Move – have been set aside for the time being, as more research on their benefits is needed, says NICE's just-published draft guidance.

"These digital platforms offer real potential to transform how cardiac rehabilitation is offered to people to meet their individual circumstances," said Dr Anastasia Chalkidou, healthtech programme director at the reimbursement authority.

"We know that traditional programmes aren't reaching everyone who could benefit – particularly women, younger patients and people from ethnic minority backgrounds," she added. "The early data is promising and suggests, with safeguards in place, more people should now be given the opportunity to use these new technologies."

The draft guidance, which is now open for comment until 3rd September, acknowledges that access to and uptake of cardiac rehab is limited across the NHS.

In 2023, only 41% of eligible people with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), which includes heart attack and angina, and 13% of those with heart failure, participated in cardiac rehab programmes in England – even though it has been proven to reduce the risk of further heart problems and hospital readmissions.

Use of the DHTs in this way ties in with the recently published NHS 10-Year Plan, which revolves around shifting care from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention.

NICE has stressed that not everyone will be suitable for digital cardiac rehab, and a trained NHS healthcare professional will have to conduct a full clinical assessment before offering these technologies to patients to ensure they are appropriate.

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