Draft guidance conditionally recommends six digital technologies that can support cardiac rehabilitation for adults with cardiovascular disease in the NHS.
The innovative platforms - Activate Your Heart, D REACH-HF, Digital Heart Manual, Gro Health HeartBuddy, KiActiv and myHeart - can be used during a three-year evidence generation period while more data is collected to address uncertainties about their long-term effectiveness.
Each platform delivers exercise programmes, education related to cardiovascular disease and its treatment, dietary advice, medication management and psychological support. Some platforms also incorporate wearable devices to monitor activity levels.
NICE's independent advisory committee has emphasised that not everyone will be suitable for digital cardiac rehabilitation. A trained NHS healthcare professional must conduct a full clinical assessment before offering these technologies to ensure they are appropriate for each individual patient.
Dr Anastasia Chalkidou, HealthTech programme director at NICE, said: ‘These digital platforms offer real potential to transform how cardiac rehabilitation is offered to people to meet their individual circumstances. We know that traditional programmes aren't reaching everyone who could benefit - particularly women, younger patients and people from ethnic minority backgrounds.'
Dr Chalkidou added: ‘The early data is promising and suggests, with safeguards in place, more people should now be given the opportunity to use these new technologies. This three-year evidence collection period will give us the additional robust data we need to determine whether these innovations should be recommended as a permanent part of cardiac care.'
The guidance also suggests additional support may be needed for older people, those with disabilities, people experiencing homelessness, or those who don't have English as a first language.
Following the three-year evidence generation period, NICE will review all available data to determine whether the technologies should be routinely adopted across the NHS.
A consultation on the draft recommendations has now begun, and comments can be submitted via the NICE website until 3 September 2025.
In addition, NICE said that seven other digital technologies - Beat Better, Datos Health, Get Ready, Luscii vitals, Pumping Marvellous Cardiac Rehab Platform, R Plus Health and Sword Move - require more research before they can be funded by the NHS and should only be used in research settings.
