Study with over 12,000 patients shows: Telemedicine improves survival and reduces hospital stays in heart failure
05.09.2022 11:22
At the European Cardiology Congress in Barcelona, scientists from the Department of Cardiovascular Diseases of the German Heart Center Munich at the Technical University of Munich and the University of Greifswald reported on the effectiveness of a combined telemonitoring and coaching program for patients with heart failure. The analysis of data from 12,130 patients provides real-world evidence for the effectiveness of the HCSG's "mecor" program.
At the European Cardiology Congress in Barcelona, scientists from the Department of Cardiovascular Diseases of the German Heart Center Munich at the Technical University of Munich and the University of Greifswald reported on the effectiveness of a combined telemonitoring and coaching program for patients with heart failure. The analysis of data from 12,130 patients provides real-world evidence for the effectiveness of the mecor program of the HCSG.
The combined telemonitoring and telecoaching program reduced mortality after one year by 47% (from 11.0% to 5.8%; p<0.001). The frequency and duration of hospital stays were also significantly lower in the participants' group than in the usual care group.
“With more than 12,000 patients analyzed, this is, to our knowledge, the largest report published to date on telemedical care for heart failure,” says Prof. Dr. Heribert Schunkert, Medical Director at the German Heart Center Munich.
The combined telemonitoring and telecoaching program reduced mortality after one year by 47% (from 11.0% to 5.8%; p<0.001). The frequency and duration of hospital stays were also significantly lower in the participants' group than in the usual care group.
"We know from previous studies that telemonitoring is effective under the conditions of a clinical trial. This study shows that the program developed by HCSG is effective for a very large number of patients, even under the conditions of outpatient care commonly found in Germany, and over a long period of time," says Dr. Christian Kloss, Managing Director of Health Care Systems GmbH (HCSG) in Pullach near Munich.
Source: K. Knoll et al. “Telemedical monitoring and coaching improves survival and hospitalization rates in heart failure” ESC Congress, Barcelona, August 26, 2022
About the project partners:
The HCSG The health program “mecor” for patients with chronic heart failure, which has been offered since 2016, is being scientifically evaluated by the DHM.
In the current study, data from 119,715 patients of a German health insurance company who were hospitalized for heart failure were analyzed. 6,065 patients were included in the Telemonitoring and coaching program “mecor” of the HCSG. The "mecor" participants were compared with 6,065 patients from usual care who were matched using propensity score matching.
The COHIRAB study, which examined the impact of telemedicine training for heart failure patients in relation to the coronavirus pandemic, has also emerged from the collaboration between HCSG and DHM. Subprojects of the collaboration were funded by the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs (Masterplan Bayern Digital II) and the German Heart Foundation.
The German Heart Center Munich (DHM) The German Heart Center (DHZ) is an internationally renowned, maximum-care hospital of the Free State of Bavaria, located at the Technical University of Munich. It offers specialized medicine at the highest level and treats patients of all ages with heart disease using the latest medical knowledge. Its in-house, practice-oriented research contributes to the further development of diagnostic and treatment concepts. The guiding principle of the hospital is to bring together various disciplines under one roof in order to provide optimal care for patients with heart and circulatory diseases through constant, close interdisciplinary collaboration. Further information can be found on the German Heart Center's website.
Health Care Systems GmbH is a leading provider of solutions for digital precision medicine. The HCSG team has more than 15 years of experience in telemedical care for over 70,000 patients with heart failure. Today, HCSG, with over 60 employees at three locations, cares for patients throughout Germany and Switzerland. HCSG has the hedy telemonitoring program Developed specifically for use in telemedicine centers, the system is particularly easy to use because it is tailored to the needs of older people with serious chronic illnesses. The HCSG service center employs specialized nursing staff with special training in providing telephone support to people with heart failure. Health data is processed in a high-security data center in Germany.