Resources for Professionals

AACVPR is pleased to share these valuable resources for all Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehab Professionals. Learn more about AACVPR and join today to gain access to our full resource library and other exclusive member benefits!

*Resources marked with an asterisk are available only to AACVPR members on AACVPR Central.

Resources for Cardiovascular & Pulmonary Rehabilitation Professionals

  • Pulmonary Rehabilitation Reimbursement Toolkit: AACVPR led a multi-society effort to address the payment reduction by Medicare that has been in effect for pulmonary rehabilitation programs since January 1, 2012. This comprehensive toolkit explains the issues associated with this payment reduction, along with a very specific approach that must be taken as soon as possible to address this payment aberration.
  • Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) Exercise Training Toolkit: This toolkit was developed to allow cardiac rehabilitation and other exercise and rehabilitation health care professionals to work within their communities to improve access to supervised exercise programs for people with intermittent claudication resulting from PAD.
  • Outpatient Cardiac & Pulmonary Rehabilitation Data Registries: The AACVPR Outpatient Data Registries will be unique and powerful tools for tracking patient outcomes and program performance in meeting evidence-based guidelines for secondary prevention of cardiovascular and pulmonary disease. They will provide rehabilitation programs with national outcomes data for benchmarking and demonstrate the positive impact of rehabilitation on the morbidity, mortality, physical function, and quality of life of cardiac and pulmonary patients across the United States.
  • Performance Measures*: AACVPR members have access to detailed performance measures fact sheets, toolkits, scientific position statements, reports and much more. See Performance Measures in Resources for Cardiovascular Professionals and Resources for Pulmonary Resources sections.
  • Video (above): AACVPR partnered with Life Systems International (LSI) on an educational documentary produced by the Discovery Channel's Profile Series. This video spotlights cardiac rehabilitation, specifically, the overwhelmingly positive outcomes for patients and the equally surprising underutilization of this healthcare service throughout the USA.
  • Cardiac Rehab Pre-Authorization Template
  • Pulmonary Rehab Pre-Authorization Template
  • Outcomes Resource Guide*: AACVPR members have access to a comprehensive guide to outcomes including how to collect, analyze and report outcomes as well as assessment tools, calculations, and other valuable resources.
  • Regulatory and Legislative Actions & Updates*: AACVPR members receive regular, timely Reimbursement Updates via e-mail and have access to the archive in AACVPR Central.
  • AACVPR Member Directory*: AACVPR members have easy, direct access to other cardiovascular and pulmonary rehab professionals across the country and throughout the world.
  • The Pulse Discussion Forum*: The Pulse is a forum for AACVPR members to connect, share best practices and expertise, and learn from one another's unique experiences.

Resources for Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Professionals

  • Second Edition of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Change Package: This essential package includes new change ideas, tools as well as resources that will help you employ hybrid delivery models, use automatic "opt out" referrals with care coordination and bolster participation among traditionally underserved populations.
  • Cardiac Rehab Information for Physicians Webinar SeriesThe purpose of this webinar series is to provide physicians, particularly those who are Medical Directors of Cardiac Rehabilitation Programs, with the didactic knowledge they need to optimize care for patients within cardiac rehab programs.
  • Cardiac Rehabilitation Change Package: This essential resource presents a listing of process improvements that CR champions can implement as they seek optimal CR utilization.
  • 2016 Cardiac Rehabilitation Fact Sheet: Please feel free to print copies and distribute in your waiting room.
  • Evidence of Benefits: This document outlines evidence-based resources on the benefits of cardiac rehabilitation – Revised September 2016
  • Hypertension Control Change Package for Clinicians: Process improvements that clinical settings can implement to seek optimal HTN control.
  • Tools for Increasing Referrals: AACVPR is proud to partner with the American College of Cardiology (ACC) on their Hospital to Home (H2H) Initiative by providing resources in the H2H "See You in 7 Tool Kit." This kit includes resources to emphasize the importance of cardiac rehab, including the Cardiac Rehabilitation Performance Measures Highlights, CardioSmart Video: Journey Back To Heart Health, and the AACVPR Cardiac Rehabilitation Fact Sheet! Cardiac Rehabilitation after cardiac events such as a Myocardial Infarction is highly recommended in clinical practice guidelines as a means to improve mortality, quality of life and functional capacity.
    • The Hospital to Home (H2H) Initiative, led by the ACC and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, is an important resource for hospitals and cardiovascular care providers interested in improving transitions from hospital to “home,” and equally important in avoiding any federal penalties associated with high readmission rates. H2H is an online learning community of individuals and facilities committed to reducing readmissions and improving patient care.
    • The goal of the H2H SY7 Challenge is for all patients discharged with a diagnosis of HF/AMI to have a follow-up appointment scheduled/cardiac rehab referral made within 7 days of hospital discharge. To achieve this goal, H2H Community members are challenged to meet eight success metrics that break improvement approaches down into small, simple, and targeted strategies.
  • Marketing your Cardiac Rehab Program*: AACVPR members have access to PowerPoint presentations created by the Marketing Committee to assist our members with promoting their cardiac rehabilitation programs. The presentations are focused on three groups critical to the success of a cardiac rehab program: physicians, third-party payers and community groups. The presentations are accompanied by speaker notes and supporting information and statistics.
  • Scientific Position Statements*: AACVPR members have access to these scientific position statements and more, including archived resources.
  • Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Performance Measures*: Performance measures are used to identify and correct gaps in care. They are often utilized by external agencies such as third party payers and the National Quality Forum (NQF), which reviews and endorses performance measures that are considered for use by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. AACVPR members have access to the most up-to-date performance measures developed by AACVPR in partnership with the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA).
  • Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Performance Measures Toolkit: The Cardiac Rehabilitation Performance Measures Toolkit is designed for professionals to gain knowledge and provide resources for use to encourage enrollment of appropriate patients into cardiac and peripheral vascular rehabilitation programs.
  • Scientific Studies*: AACVPR members have access to these scientific studies and more, which are routinely reviewed and updated by the Research Committee.
  • Practice Guidelines*: AACVPR members have access to these practice guidelines and more!
  • Differences between ICD-10 - CM and ICD-9 - CM Terminology*: View a list of conversion codes from ICD-9 to ICD-10 for cardiac rehabilitation diagnoses. Thanks to Murray Low, EdD, FACSM, MAACVPR for providing this resource. – Released August 2015

Resources for Pulmonary Rehabilitation Professionals Professionals

  • Pulmonary Rehabilitation Fact Sheet – available in English or Spanish
  • Customizable Pulmonary Rehabilitation Fact Sheet
  • Pulmonary Rehabilitation Outcomes Resource Guide (Toolkit)*: The Pulmonary Rehabilitation (PR) Outcomes Resource Guide was developed by Chris Garvey, FNP, MSN, MPA, MAACVPR, Gerene Bauldoff, RN, PhD, FAACVPR, Eileen Collins, PhD, RN, FAACVPR, DorAnne Donesky, RN, PhD, Kent Eichenauer, PsyD, FAACVPR, Connie Paladenech, RRT, RCP, Charlotte Teneback, MD, FAAN, Maria Buckley, PhD, FAACVPR and colleagues to provide AACVPR members with information regarding the available, evidence-based PR outcome measures and resources. Expert opinion and input was sought from volunteers of AACVPR, ATS, ACCP, APTA, AARC, and AARC. The intent of the toolkit is to offer resources for program quality improvement, AACVPR certification/recertification, AACVPR registry use and, ultimately, National Quality Forum Performance Measures for PR. The toolkit contains several of the most widely used measures in each domain; however, not all possible tools are included. If PR providers utilize outcome measures not included in this toolkit, those tools should be widely used and validated in chronic lung disease whenever possible.
  • Pulmonary Rehabilitation Outcomes Resource Guide (Toolkit)*: AACVPR members have access to these scientific studies and more, which are routinely reviewed and updated by the Research Committee.
  • Practice Guidelines*: AACVPR members have access to these practice guidelines and more.
  • Performance Measures*: Performance measures are used to identify and correct gaps in care. They are often utilized by external agencies such as third party payers and the National Quality Forum (NQF), which reviews and endorses performance measures that are considered for use by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Resources for Behavioral Medicine & Nutrition Professionals

Recent research has proven the significant role that psychosocial factors play in heart disease. The primary psychosocial risk factors that have been found to be the most prominent are:

  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Anger/Hostility
  • Social Isolation

Moods and behavioral patterns impact our chemistry in ways that are toxic to our hearts.

Patients respond to their heart disease and its consequent medical procedures and surgeries with a variety of psychological reactions that can warrant intervention in the rehab program. However, these psychosocial risk factors also impact patients’ risk of heart disease before the diagnosis, and can impact morbidity and mortality after the diagnosis.

Therefore, the psychosocial needs of all of our patients need to be addressed as an integral component of our rehab programs. This resource page is designed to assist rehab staff in attending to these needs.

  • Behavioral Medicine Overview, Models of Behavioral Programs, and Compensation Options for Psychosocial Services in Cardiac Rehab*
  • Psychosocial Assessment Instruments*
  • Resources for Your Patients
  • Wellness Coaching Resources*
  • Nutrition Professional Resources*
  • "How To" Guides for Behavioral Medicine*
  • Scientific Literature – Cardiac References*
  • Scientific Literature – Pulmonary References*
  • PCNA Resource Center for Health Care Professionals and Their Patients: This toolkit contains basic information for professionals including overcoming barriers to living a healthier lifestyle, tips on motivational interviewing, goal setting and more. In addition, the toolkit provides informational handouts that can be given to patients about healthy eating and physical activity.
  • Exercise Reaps Double Benefits in Post-MI Depression: NEW ORLEANS – Exercise training is the sole therapy that simultaneously addresses two of the major risk factors for secondary cardiovascular events in patients with known coronary heart disease: depression and sedentary lifestyle.
    Yet formal cardiac rehabilitation programs, which as a matter of course place strong emphasis upon exercise training, are vastly underused.
    "My estimation is that only 5%-7% of coronary heart disease patients who are candidates actually attend a cardiac rehabilitation program. Even in the Medicare population – and Medicare covers cardiac rehabilitation – only 13% of post-MI patients, for example, attend cardiac rehabilitation," according to Dr. Carl J. Lavie, a cardiologist who is medical director of cardiac rehabilitation and the exercise laboratories at the Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute, New Orleans.
    Because cardiac rehab for secondary prevention in CHD patients has been shown to reduce mortality, placebo-controlled randomized trials are no longer possible. But Dr. Lavie and Dr. Richard V. Milani showed in a series of 522 consecutive patients enrolled in cardiac rehab that the prevalence of depression as defined by a score greater than 6 on the well-validated Kellner Symptom Questionnaire dropped from 17% at baseline to 6% upon completing the program. That’s a 63% reduction.

Additional Resources

Please note that AACVPR does not endorse nor support the following resources. These are simply posted for your review and benefit.

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