What is Cardiovascular Rehabilitation (cardiac rehab)?
Cardiac rehab is a professionally supervised program to help people recover from heart attacks, heart surgery and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures such as stenting and angioplasty. Cardiac rehab also cares for people with certain types of heart failure, stable angina and peripheral arterial disease.
Cardiac rehab programs usually provide education and counseling services to help heart patients increase physical fitness, reduce cardiac symptoms, improve health and reduce the risk of future heart problems, including heart attacks.
Cardiovascular Rehabilitation at Oklahoma Heart Hospital
Oklahoma Heart Hospital is one of the largest centers in the United States that offers the Pritikin Intensive Cardiac Rehab (ICR) program. Like traditional cardiac rehab programs, Pritikin ICR focuses on exercise. But it also provides a comprehensive education in the skills that foster a healthy lifestyle. Participants learn how to eat well, exercise, feel better and live better.
Participants will learn how to:
- Cook heart-healthy meals that are delicious and affordable
- Become smart grocery shoppers
- Order intelligently in restaurants
- Lose weight utilizing science-based skills
- Quit smoking
- Manage stress
- Improve personal and professional relationships
- Transform negative attitudes into positive ones
Participants gain an in-depth education about the relationship between lifestyle and cardiovascular health. Participants are encouraged to continue their exercise in the Phase 3 maintenance program after graduation.
Medicare Covers Intensive Cardiovascular Rehabilitation
The medical conditions that qualify for Medicare reimbursement of ICR (intensive cardiac rehab) are the same as CR (cardiac rehab). If you have experienced one or more of the following events, and if you have not received Medicare-reimbursed cardiac rehab after your most recent event, you qualify.
- Acute myocardial infarction (within the preceding 12 months only)
- Coronary artery bypass graft surgery (no time limit)
- Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty or stenting procedure (no time limit)
- Current stable angina pectoris (no time limit)
- Heart or heart-lung transplant (no time limit)
- Heart valve repair or replacement (no time limit)
- Chronic Systolic Heart Failure with a current ejection fraction of <35%