Coronary disease & ACS

Cost-effectiveness of a digitally enabled cardiac rehabilitation programme for patients with coronary heart disease

Eur J Prev CardiolPublished Cost-effectiveness analysis

Authors' conclusion

Digitally enabled cardiac rehabilitation is a cost-effective alternative to usual care, offering improved health outcomes at an acceptable cost.

Study context

Population
Patients admitted for coronary heart disease (CHD), recruited nationally post-hospitalization
Participants
337 patients
Comparison
Digitally enabled cardiac rehabilitation vs usual care
  • Digitally enabled cardiac rehabilitation (DeCR)n = 88
  • Usual caren = 249reference
Outcome
Cost per QALY gained (ICER); WTP threshold AUD$50 000 per QALY
Follow-up
5-year time horizon
Methodological detailsMarkov model, 5-year time horizon, 3% annual discounting, one-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses
  • Markov model
  • 5-year time horizon
  • 3% annual discounting
  • One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses

Main finding

As reported in the abstract

GroupValueCost
DeCR4.677 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs)AUD$121,235
Usual care3.244 QALYsAUD$100 733

Value

DeCR4.677 QALYs
Usual care3.244 QALYs

Cost

DeCRAUD$121,235
Usual careAUD$100 733
Incremental cost
AUD$20 503
Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) per QALY gained, well below the willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold
AUD$14 302 (€9082)
Cost-effective in simulations
87%

Further findings

Key ICER drivers

Mortality risk, proportion of usual care attending cardiac rehabilitation, and DeCR utility gained

Original publication

Cost-effectiveness of a digitally enabled cardiac rehabilitation programme for patients with coronary heart disease. Eur J Prev Cardiol. Published 29 August 2025. doi:10.1093/eurjpc/zwaf512

Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →

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