IVR System Use by Patients with Heart Failure: Compliance and Services Utilization Patterns

Heart failure (HF) is the leading cause of cardiovascular morbidity and health care utilization globally. Much of the cost for HF is related to hospitalization, strategies to decrease cost need to focus on avoiding unnecessary hospital readmission. Interactive voice response (IVR) is an automated telephony system that leverages existing telephone lines to monitor patients post-discharge, for early intervention. This study explores the pattern of IVR use by HF patients in the IVR program at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI) and assesses IVR use by patients in relation to symptoms, compliance behavior, lifestyle, and hospital readmission. A total of 902 HF patients were considered; the mean age was 70 years, and 59.4% were male. Over a 12-week period of IVR use, there was an overall increase in medication adherence and a decrease in symptoms occurrence, weight gain and readmission rate. The highest and lowest compliance rates were associated with medication adherence and exercise, respectively. Overall, older, female patients from rural/community hospitals were more likely to complete the IVR calls, have less symptoms occurrence, comply with medications, weight, and lifestyle recommendations. The findings suggest that IVR system use can have a positive impact on HF patients’ management. The increased use of IVR in remote patient monitoring will allow for a cheaper and more accessible form of home monitoring. Leveraging IVR technology to support other conditions, especially during a pandemic, may be beneficial for patients to avoid unnecessary visits to the hospital and complications due to delay in seeking care.