Improving Post-PCI Cardiac Rehabilitation Referrals: A Collaborative Approach

Clinical practice guidelines recommend referring all eligible patients who have undergone percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) to cardiac rehabilitation (CR).

The COVID-19 pandemic severely decreased patient participation in CR programs after PCI. Many CR facilities either closed or paused their services, and this decline in participation continued even after the pandemic ended.

The hospital implemented a new process to improve referrals for CR, which included providing daily education to patients who had undergone PCI, submitting a CR referral request before the patient was discharged, having a representative from the CR facility contact the patient directly, and giving patients a choice of multiple locations for their CR. Within the first quarter, the referral rate doubled, and for the next 7 quarters, the rate consistently stayed above 97%.

Collaboration with a dedicated CR facility leads to improved and sustained referral rates among patients who have undergone PCI.