Cardiac Rehabilitation: There Is No Downside - Yet Only 1 in 4 Participate

Cardiovascular rehabilitation can help reduce the effects of heart disease, but “suboptimal” participation rates can put thousands at risk of another heart attack.

According to new findings reported in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes (January 2020), of the more than 366,000 patients covered by Medicare who were eligible for outpatient cardiac rehabilitation in 2016, only about 25% participated in a cardiac rehabilitation program, totaling about 90,000 people.

Among those who participated in the program, only 24% began within 21 days of the acute cardiac event or surgery; and only about 27% completed the full course of recommended sessions needed to improve health outcomes. These low participation and completion rates translate to about 7 million missed opportunities to potentially improve health outcomes—even though the program is covered by Medicare!

Outpatient cardiac rehabilitation has been shown to increase life expectancy and reduce the emotional and physical challenges heart attack survivors often experience. Exercise, counseling, healthy heart lifestyle advice and stress reduction tips—all part of cardiac rehab—help reduce the odds of recurrence. There's another advantage as well: extended medical supervision after discharge.

In other words, there is no downside to cardiac rehab!

Even better – our Cardiovascular Rehabilitation program is recognized as a leader in the field by the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation. Our medically-supervised programs are tailored to meet your needs and provide you with access to state-of-the-art equipment to help improve your quality of life.

Learn more about our Cardiovascular Rehabilitation program here.

*Data Source: https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.119.005902