COVID-19 Accelerates Demand for Remote Cardiac Rehab, Broadening Program Scope and Strengthening Adoption

Durham, NC, June 7, 2021 –

An innovative home-based cardiac rehab (HBCR) program, developed by Duke Health on the Pattern Health digital platform, is commercially available for licensing as a turn-key solution to help cardiac rehab clinics deliver care to more patients.

Developed pre-pandemic as an alternative to a 36-session, in-person cardiac rehab program, the Duke HBCR program was designed to reach and serve approximately 80% of patients unable to participate in on-site rehab. As a result of COVID-19 precautions, this population has grown in proportion to the decline of in-person appointments, greatly expanding the HBCR program’s applicability.

“This program is the culmination of years of research and hard work — all to address the growing need for non-traditional care,” said Duke Health’s Dr. William Kraus, a leading cardiac rehabilitation specialist who designed and developed the program. “Whether because of distance, transportation challenges, or health concerns like COVID, I saw a very clear need for a remote approach to cardiac rehab to reach these unserved patients. Working with Pattern Health, I was able to develop and test my vision for alternate care delivery faster and easier than I ever thought possible.”

With the CMS telehealth billing code changes in 2020, remote programs like Duke HBCR became fully reimbursable at the onsite rate. Since facilities and operational costs for HBCR are generally lower compared to center-based cardiac rehab, this approach allows providers to reach a patient population that is not currently being served with a solution that is both operationally and economically scalable.

The 12-week HBCR program is available for use by health systems and providers outside of the Duke Health system via Pattern Health’s secure, HiTRUST certified, HIPAA-compliant digital health platform. Free for patients to download to their iOS or Android smartphone, the Duke HBCR program supports integrations with third-party devices to track biometrics including activity, heart rate, and ECGs.

“We are thrilled to be working and collaborating with Dr. Kraus and the Duke Health team to turn their vision for a home-based cardiac rehabilitation into a proven and highly scalable solution,” said Ed Barber, CEO of Pattern Health. “We strive to help health innovators like Dr. Kraus turn their transformative ideas into real-world solutions. Today our growing network of academic medical centers and research organizations are using our enterprise platform to measurably impact lives.”

To learn more about the Duke HBCR program visit https://pattern.health/exchange/home-based-cardiac-rehab/.



About Pattern Health

At Pattern Health, we believe that thoughtfully built technology can inspire and accelerate digital health innovation to deliver more impact with less hassle. Our HIPAA-compliant and HITRUST-certified platform enables researchers and clinicians to quickly and cost-effectively develop, validate, and commercialize a wide range of condition-specific digital health programs. To date, the company’s solutions have been licensed and integrated by a rapidly expanding network of customers, including 11 of the top 20 academic medical centers in the United States, 6 of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies globally, and a growing number of commercial healthcare companies.

Written by: Tim Horan