[Performance indicators of cardiac rehabilitation in Hungary]

With the improvement of the survival of acute cardiac events and the increasing age, there is a higher demand for cardiac rehabilitation care.

The aim of our study is to analyse the performance indicators of cardiac inpatient rehabilitation care in Hungary financed by the statutory public health insurance system.

Data were derived from the financial database of the National Health Insurance Fund of Hungary. We analysed the period between 2014 and 2017. We investigated the distribution of cardiac rehabilitation hospital beds, the patient turnover and the rehabilitation rate following acute care.

In 2017, there were 1765 publicly financed cardiac rehabilitation hospital beds in Hungary (1.8 beds/10 000 population). We observed the lowest number of hospital bed number in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg (0.27 beds/10 000 population), Hajdú-Bihar (0.28) and Fejér (0.6) counties. We found the highest number of hospital beds in Veszprém (11.47 beds/10 000 population), Győr-Moson-Sopron (4.94) counties and in Budapest (2.27). Between 2014 and 2017, the annual number of patients was between 24 834 and 26 146, while the number of nursing days varied between 510 thousand and 542 thousand. The average length of stay showed a moderate increase from 19.2 days/patient (2014) to 20.2 days/patient (2017). Only 6.6-7.6% of the patients who underwent acute myocardial infarction received cardiac rehabilitation care.

We found significant regional inequalities in both the capacities and the access to and utilization of cardiac rehabilitation healthcare services, which should be mitigated by health policy activities. The low proportion (6.6-7.6%) of patients who underwent acute myocardial infarction and received cardiac rehabilitation care, should be increased. Orv Hetil. 2019; 160(Suppl 1): 6-12.