Cardiac Rehab

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is an evidence-based intervention that uses patient education, health behavior modification, and exercise training to improve secondary prevention outcomes in patients with cardiovascular disease.

Cardiac Rehab is a program which can benefit individuals who have:

• Had a heart attack
• Chronic stable angina
• Received a coronary angioplasty or stent
• Chronic heart failure.
• Undergone coronary artery bypass surgery, heart valve replacement or repair, or a heart or heart-lung transplant.

Medicare and many other insurance companies cover Cardiac Rehab for eligible conditions, such as those listed above.

CR programs reduce morbidity and mortality rates in adults with ischemic heart disease, heart failure, or cardiac surgery but are significantly underused, with only a minority of eligible patients participating in CR in the United States. CR participation also has demonstrated additional benefits in improving functional status, quality of life, and mood.