This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Aging/ Geriatrics  • Cardiovascular System  • Quality of Care  • Quality of Care, Other  • Rehabilitation Medicine  • Cardiovascular Disease/ Myocardial Infarction  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Mike Mitka

JAMA. 2007;298(18):2126-2128.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Experts hope publication of a new set of performance measures will galvanize physicians and hospitals to routinely refer appropriate patients for cardiac rehabilitation, an intervention that is strikingly underused despite its proven benefits.

Studies show that for patients who have had a cardiovascular event or procedure, cardiac rehabilitation—medically supervised exercise, nutritional counseling, and education and support aimed at helping patients modify risk factors (such as high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol levels)—reduces the risk of new cardiovascular complications at rates equivalent to routinely prescribed medical therapies. Despite this benefit, less than 30% of the eligible population engage in cardiac rehabilitation. The percentages are even lower (13.9%) for patients older than 65 years who are hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction—arguably a population that needs even more intensive rehabilitation.

New performance measures are intended to make referral to cardiac rehabilitation routine for appropriate patients. (Photo credit: HPA-Voisin/Phanie/www.sciencesource.com)

. . . [Full Text of this Article]

REFERRAL DISCONNECT



CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?