Cardiac rehabilitation prevents further heart attacks and hospital admissions, but participation is low and quality is highly variable. We have shown that collaborative quality improvement programs can address barriers and enable improvement in care quality and delivery in primary care. In this type-2 hybrid effectiveness-implementation cluster randomised clinical trial, we will harness the collective drive and expertise of cardiac rehabilitation clinicians in finding solutions to shared problems through a collaborative quality improvement program supported by an electronic data platform. This 24-month project will improve uptake and adherence to cardiac rehabilitation, patient outcomes, service delivery and ensure value for money for Australians with heart disease. QUICR processes will provide a readily scalable approach to quality improvement that identifies and addresses enablers and barriers, to be implemented nationally and beyond cardiac rehabilitation.

This trial is funded by the MRFF Cardiovascular Health Mission Grant led by Prof Robyn Gallagher.

The Team:

• Prof Robyn Gallagher
• Prof David Brieger
• Prof Thomas Briffa
• Emeritus Prof Adrian Bauman
• Dr Michelle Cunich
• Prof Julie Redfern
• Dr Susan Cartledge
• Prof Robyn A Clark
• Prof Gemma Figtree
• Prof Adrienne O’Neil
• Dr Karice Hyun