What we’re doing to improve heart health in rural Australia

Published August 2025 | 5 min read
Expert contributors: Professor Andrea Driscoll, Deakin University and Austin Health; Dr Chris Pettigrew, Head of the HCF Research Foundation
Words by Carrie Hutchinson

People living in remote areas are more likely to have undiagnosed heart disease. Now, an HCF Research Foundation-backed program is improving rural heart health.

Here’s a troubling fact: one in six Australians lives with cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular disease affects the heart and blood vessels, causing issues from organ damage to fatigue and shortness of breath. It’s also responsible for causing around 24% of all deaths in Australia – although the rates of cardiovascular disease have decreased enormously (by about 80%) since the 1980s, thanks to better preventive measures, diagnoses and treatments.

Despite these improvements, a 2024 survey of almost 1000 Australians aged between 45 and 74 years found 58% hadn’t had a heart health check in the past two years. Of these, more than a third had high blood pressure (37%) or high cholesterol (32%) – two major risk factors for heart attacks.

This problem is compounded for people living in rural or regional areas, where access to regular health checks and specialist care is often limited.

The rural health crisis

According to the second Royal Flying Doctor Service Best for the Bush, Rural and Remote Health Base Line report, released in 2024, people living away from metropolitan areas are likely to have significantly poorer health outcomes. In fact, remote and rural residents are 2.8 times more likely to be hospitalised for reasons that are potentially preventable.

The report also revealed one of the leading causes of death in remote areas was heart disease, with people living in very remote areas almost twice as likely to die from it than people who live in major cities.

“Unless more comprehensive primary healthcare services are expanded into rural and remote areas, people in these communities will continue to experience higher levels of illness, avoidable hospitalisation and earlier death,” the report concluded.

How the I-HEART project is transforming rural heart healthcare

To address this, the HCF Research Foundation – a not-for-profit organisation that’s been funding health services research in Australia for the past 25 years – is funding an innovative project led by Professor Andrea Driscoll from Deakin University and Austin Health. An expert in cardiovascular disease, Prof Driscoll has led a range of pioneering research projects to date, with a specific focus on nurse-led models of care and reducing disparities in healthcare.

Called ‘I-HEART: Implementation of Heart Failure Guidelines in Regional Australia’, this project aims to enhance care for patients suffering from heart disease and failure in regional and rural areas through advanced telehealth services and nurse-led clinics.

Since 2022, it has opened two nurse-led heart failure clinics and has implemented more than 30 decision-support tools. Collaboration between six regional hospitals and more than 25 workshops has seen about 270 health professionals now trained in heart failure management.

This improved access to heart specialists ensures patients are receiving the treatments they need to improve the quality of their daily lives and avoid ending up back in hospital.

“So often, heart failure patients aren’t on the right medications,” says Prof Driscoll. “We know from research findings that only 6.9% of patients hospitalised with heart failure received all recommended heart failure therapies. Getting patients on the right therapies will improve outcomes.”

The role of telehealth in improving access

Just as it changed healthcare for people right across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth has had a huge influence on the way heart disease is treated outside of urban areas.

“Telehealth has been a game changer, especially for those living in regional and rural areas where heart failure patients previously lacked specialist care,” says Prof Driscoll. “Patients are seen within a week of hospital discharge and then weekly for five weeks to prevent readmission.”

This scheduled follow-up approach was designed in collaboration with hospital executives, clinicians, local health professionals and patients to ensure it met the needs of all involved. Working together on a response has been a key to I-HEART’s success.

“It really needs to be tailored to the local environment,” says Prof Driscoll. “What’s done in regional hospitals is really different from metro areas.”

While there have been challenges in the first years of the I-HEART program – staffing costs, connectivity issues, natural disasters like floods – the benefits it has brought the community far outweighs the obstacles.

“If you implement the telehealth clinic and fund a coordinator, the cost savings from reduced hospitalisations can cover the clinic’s expenses,” says Prof Driscoll.

What better heart health means for rural communities

Keeping people out of hospital has a knock-on effect for the rest of the rural community, says Dr Chris Pettigrew, Head of the HCF Research Foundation.

“Developing care models that get people out of hospital earlier, and keep them out by reducing readmissions, frees up beds for other patients and benefits the entire health system. It’s about increasing efficiency, reducing costs and getting the right care to patients who need it most.

“By leveraging telehealth and local expertise, this project is making a tangible difference in the lives of heart failure patients in regional Australia, offering a model that could benefit communities nationwide.”

Get a free heart health check

The I-HEART program is closing the gap in heart health care access for rural Australians. But no matter where you live, regular check-ups are important to stay on top of your heart health. That’s why we offer eligible members 18 years and older a free HCF Heart and Diabetes Health Check, delivered by the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, at selected locations and dates^*. It only takes 10 minutes and you can get your results right away.