Initial Outcomes of CardioClick, a Telehealth Program for Preventive Cardiac Care: Observational Study (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Telehealth use has increased in specialty clinics, but there is limited evidence on the outcomes of telehealth in primary cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to evaluate the initial outcomes of CardioClick, a telehealth primary CVD prevention program. METHODS In 2017, the Stanford South Asian Translational Heart Initiative (a preventive cardiology clinic focused on high-risk South Asian patients) introduced CardioClick, which is a clinical pathway replacing in-person follow-up visits with video visits. We assessed patient engagement and changes in CVD risk factors in CardioClick patients and in a historical in-person cohort from the same clinic. RESULTS In this study, 118 CardioClick patients and 441 patients who received in-person care were included. CardioClick patients were more likely to complete the clinic’s CVD prevention program (76/118, 64.4% vs 173/441, 39.2%, respectively; P<.001) and they did so in lesser time (mean, 250 days vs 307 days, respectively; P<.001) than the patients in the historical in-person cohort. Patients who completed the CardioClick program achieved reductions in CVD risk factors, including blood pressure, lipid concentrations, and BMI, which matched or exceeded those observed in the historical in-person cohort. CONCLUSIONS Telehealth can be used to deliver care effectively in a preventive cardiology clinic setting and may result in increased patient engagement. Further studies on telehealth outcomes are needed to determine the optimal role of virtual care models across diverse preventive medicine clinics.