Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation

Cardiac rehab is prescribed for patients who have or have had:

• a heart attack

• coronary artery stents or angioplasty

• coronary artery bypass surgery

• heart valve surgery

• heart failure

• heart transplant

• chronic stable angina

• peripheral artery disease

Pulmonary rehab is prescribed for patients with a chronic lung disease such as:

• Chronic bronchitis

• Emphysema

• Asthma

Both cardiac and pulmonary rehab programs require a physician referral, so talk with your family doctor, pulmonologist, cardiologist or cardiac surgeon. Patients with other heart or lung conditions may also be eligible for our cardiac or pulmonary rehab, so ask your doctor if you qualify.

Most private insurances and Medicare cover our cardiopulmonary rehab program. If you have any questions, our staff can contact your insurance company to discuss your plan of care and help coordinate reimbursement.

Our cardiac and pulmonary rehab programs bring a multidisciplinary team—consisting of registered nurses, exercise physiologists and dieticians—to serve you. The staff have been trained in exercise therapy to help you functionally and emotionally.

One-hour exercise sessions are held two to three times each week at our cardiopulmonary exercise facility. You will also learn more about your risk factors, stress reduction, medications, healthy eating and smoking cessation, if applicable. And throughout the program, you’ll have the opportunity to work with other patients, sharing experiences and motivating each other to achieve lifestyle changes.

Our cardiopulmonary rehab staff will closely monitor each step of your therapy to identify potential problems. We will regularly communicate any problems along with your progress to your physician. 

Benchmarks that the UHH programs had to meet, and our performance within those benchmarks follow. The benchmarks that UHH CR and PR had to meet for this first-ever outcome-based “performance measure” Program Certification were:

Pulmonary Rehabilitation

• Improvement in functional capacity in >70% of participants increasing 6-Minute Walk distance by 98.42 feet. 100% of our participants met this performance measure.

• Improvement in Quality of Life in >70% of participants by using a validated tool to demonstrate minimum clinical important difference (MCID). 100% of our participants met this performance measure.

• Improvement in dyspnea by using a validated tool to demonstrate minimum clinical important difference (MCID) for dyspnea improvement. Goal is 70% of participants having met the MCID. Our program’s was 60%. The other 40% were exactly at MCID rather than exceeding MCID.

Cardiac Rehabilitation

• Improvement in blood pressure management to have 70% of participants at Blood Pressure goal of <140/90. 93.75% of our participants met this performance measure.

• Improvement in functional capacity in >70% of participant by increasing 6-Minute Walk Distance by 10%. 100% of our participants met this performance measure.

• Improvement in depression symptoms in >70% of clinically depressed patients by demonstrating minimum clinical important difference (MCID) for the respective survey tool. 85.71% of our clinically depressed patients improved their depression.

• Providing Tobacco Cessation Intervention to current tobacco users and recent quitters within the last 6 months. Performance measure was that at least 70% of patients would receive intervention. 100% of our participants that were either smokers or recent quitters received a documented intervention.

*These results were for patients enrolled in the program during the 2017 calendar year, and are typical for the program.

Extraordinary Patient Programs

• Fit to Fight: Cancer empowerment program facilitated by two of only three certified cancer exercise specialists in the state.

• Heart Building 101: A supportive group for those with heart problems looking to start or maintain a heart-healthy lifestyle. See dates for upcoming sessions.

• Seven O’Clock Club

You can reach the cardiopulmonary rehab department at 608-930-7160 or via fax at 608-930-7253