Mr Tim Pham1, Ms Violet Argirov1, Ms Fiona Frawley1, Dr Julianna Bailey1, Ms Caroline Kratzing1, Dr Andrea Bramley1,2,3
1Alfred Health, Prahran, Australia, 2La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia, 3Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Biography:
Tim Pham (M.Diet) is the program lead for the Alfred Health COACH (Coaching Patients On Achieving Cardiovascular Health) program. Since 2020, he has worked as a clinical dietitian at the Alfred Hospital, specialising in nutrition for management of chronic diseases.
Abstract:
Effective prevention of coronary artery disease (CAD) involves a comprehensive approach with emphasis on lifestyle changes. The COACH program is an evidence-based initiative for secondary prevention of CAD and assists patients to make changes to modifiable risk factors. It has been shown to reduce hospital re-admissions, lengths of stay in subsequent admissions, and all-cause mortality.
Patients who withdraw from COACH experience fewer short- and long-term health benefits compared to patients who complete the program. Historically, over half of the patients enrolled in AH-COACH did not complete the program. Improving patient retention is critical to ensuring optimal health outcomes. We aim to increase patient retention and program completion rates to 70% by the end of 2026.
We used a quality improvement framework to identify several strategies designed to improve patient retention in AH-COACH. These strategies included:
– Implementing a mobile messaging system to increase reachability
– Streamlining documentation and administrative processes to increase clinician-patient interaction time
– Expanding opportunities and pathways for patients to provide feedback about the program
– Enhancing access to post-program surveys to gauge patient satisfaction and identify opportunities for further program optimisation.
Patient retention has improved from an average of approximately 40% over six years (pre-interventions) to 70% over the last two years (post-interventions). Future directions include ongoing reviews of barriers to engagement.