Telehealth practices, such as follow-up visits, reminders and suggestions given to recovering patients by healthcare providers via the phone or Internet, hold promise for improving outcomes according to a recent study. For those who lack easy access to in-house cardiac rehabilitation, such follow-up services provided over the phone and internet may help provide an effective alternative to an office visit, say researchers at Concord Repatriation General Hospital in Sydney. The review, a meta-analysis published in the European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention & Rehabilitation, analyzed 11 primary research studies, which included data from over 3,000 patients.

All participants had taken part in “telehealth” prevention programs, which were defined as those in which at least 50% of patient contact was made over the phone or internet (though only two of the 11 studies used the internet). In about half of the studies a nurse was the contact person for patients, and patient contact time varied from a total of 40 minutes to nine hours.

The researchers found that participating in a telehealth program was linked to a 30% reduction in mortality when compared to those who didn’t use such programs. However, when data were analyzed to reflect “real-life” situations, the risk reduction was only about 1%.

There were some significant benefits to telehealth participation, which included lower rates of smoking, lower systolic blood pressure, and lower cholesterol. Participants also reported better quality of life and increased physical activity.

“People today are increasingly time-poor,” says Lis Neubeck, lead author on the study, “and attendance at a centre-based programme for the secondary prevention of recurrent coronary events tends to limit access. Utilising electronic technologies has the potential to increase access for these services without compromising outcomes.”

Some programs the team analyzed provide telehealth support for up to 12 months following the initial cardiac event. Neubeck points out that these types of programs are particularly important for those in remote, rural areas who may not have access to in-person cardiac rehabilitation.

“These interventions,” says Neubeck, “have the potential to overcome barriers of time and distance, thus enabling us to reach populations with problems in accessing healthcare, at affordable cost.”