The following information and resources are meant to help our members and partners navigate the uncertain road ahead as it relates to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Please check back often, as content is updated regularly. If you have a resource to add to this page, please send to aacvpr@aacvpr.org.
AACVPR COVID-19 Task Force
AACVPR is currently engaging our COVID-19 Task Force, which is comprised of board members, and both cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation specialists. This groups is focused on serving as a resource and repository for relevant information that pertains to our specialty and serving patients in these unprecedented times. They will be updating this webpage to provide up-to-date resources for you as you navigate the impact of this global pandemic.
AACVPR's Ongoing Advocacy for Telehealth
It’s disheartening that The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rejected a proposal from AACVPR to include cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation services as part of a temporary reimbursement for outpatient telehealth services, which was originally extended to evaluation and management services. CMS has opted not to extend these reimbursement services to CR/PR. Read more >>
Returning with Care
As shelter-at-home laws are relaxed, the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR) offers general considerations for cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation (CR/PR) programs as they determine when and how to safely resume center-based rehabilitation. AACVPR recommends a collaborative approach involving administration, infection prevention and control (IPC) department, medical director(s), regulatory/legal team and staff in the development, planning, provision of care and continuous monitoring related to reopening. Ongoing adaptation and updating of these plans and methods will be required as more is understood regarding risk reduction and practice in the CR/PR setting. A cautious approach may dictate beginning with a low census to optimize practices. The information below is not meant to be a guideline nor should it supersede a given institution’s policies and local laws and statutes.
Watch a recording of a Town Hall conversation with AACVPR leaders who helped craft the Returning with Care considerations, then download the Returning with Care infographic (JPEG).
Patient Screening Checklist
All patients should be screened for ability to practice appropriate safety precautions, including physical distancing, hand hygiene, etc., and to respond accurately to pre-program screening. Use this checklist to screen patients before returning to in-center care. Download >>
General Information
Webcasts
From AACVPR and other associations, free for members and non-members:
- 2019 AACVPR Webcast: Telehealth in Pulmonary Rehabilitation and COPD – Traditional pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is effective in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) but is not readily accessible. Alternative modes of delivery of PR such as telehealth PR are needed, but most centers have limited experience with telehealth PR. This webinar will share experiences of initiating and maintaining a telehealth PR program at a single tertiary academic center.
- 2018 AACVPR Annual Meeting Recorded Session B209: Movin' Out: Extending Pulmonary Rehab out to the Home and Community – Pulmonary rehabilitation is grossly under-utilized, especially in the post-discharge period following the COPD exacerbation. Discharged patients are very reluctant to come in to a center-based program. This session would explore the option of extending PR to the home or community. The problem of poor-uptake will be reviewed, relevant evidence-based literature on home based PR will be reviewed, and innovative, revenue-neutral approaches will be discussed.
- Clinical Implications of COVID-19 Infection: Strategies for Preparedness, Mitigation, and Clinical Operations, presented by J. Hudson Garrett Jr., PhD, MSN, MPH, MBA, FNP-BC, IP-BC, PLNC, AS-BC, VA-BC, FACDONA, FAAPM, FNAP on behalf of the Society of Gastroenterology Nurses and Associates (SGNA) – This free webinar recording reviews the current status of the COVID-19 Pandemic, implications to clinical practices in procedural settings, and also discuss commonsense approaches to ensuring a safe work environment.
- Coping With COVID-19: Panel Discussion on the Transition to Virtual/Home-based Cardiac Rehabilitation Programming, from the Canadian Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (CACPR) – This webinar will involve short presentations from programs across the nation followed by a Q & A period. During this time of uncertainty, CACPR would like to provide as much support as possible for the Cardiac Rehabilitation community. The webinar was made available on the CACPR website (cacpr.ca/Webinars) in April 2020.
- COVID-19 and Cardiac Rehabilitation – Panel Discussion on adapting CR amidst COVID-19, from the ICCPR
AACVPR Communications
- January 18, 2021 - Extension of COVID-19 Pandemic extends Opportunities for Delivery
- October 20, 2020 - CMS Adds Cardiac, Intensive Cardiac, and Pulmonary Rehabilitation to Telehealth Codes for
Physician Office-Based Programs during the Public Health Emergency
- October 9, 2020 – Extension of COVID-19 Pandemic extends Opportunities for Delivery of Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation
- September 23, 2020 – Delivery of Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation – Opportunities During the COVID-19 Pandemic
- August 5, 2020 – CMS Addresses Virtual Services for Cardiac, Intensive Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation
- May 21, 2020 – Returning with Care
- May 18, 2020 – An Open Letter to CMS
- May 1, 2020 – CMS Rejects Telehealth Reimbursement for CR/PR
- April 16, 2020 – A Roundup of New Resources
- April 10, 2020 – An Update on Telehealth
- March 30, 2020 – Pulmonary Rehabilitation Resources in a Complex and Rapidly Changing World [PDF]
- March 27, 2020 – News & Views: AACVPR Paving the Way for Home-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation
- March 20, 2020 – ITP Frequently Asked Questions and Guidance on Telehealth Codes
- March 13, 2020 – Message from AACVPR President Ana Mola, PhD, RN, ANP-BC, MAACVPR
AACVPR Resources and Program Case Studies
Resources for Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation Professionals
Patient Resources
IDMC Partners
Cardiac and pulmonary rehab professionals have often been asked to think outside the box and now, it’s needed more than ever. The successful implementation of innovative cardiac rehabilitation delivery will depend upon the close collaboration of cardiac rehabilitation professionals and industry partners to ensure that established standards of delivery that are proven to be successful in traditional delivery are replicated in a home based or other innovative delivery environment. As a result, AACVPR has established the Innovative Delivery Model Collaborative (IDMC) to foster this communication and provide a mechanism for this collaboration. Here’s what our IDMC partners are doing to support customers through the pandemic.
Chanl Health
Chanl Health partners with hospital systems around the country to help them deliver home-based cardiac rehab as an integrated solution with their onsite rehab programs. In the midst of COVID-19, as more cardiac rehab sites are needing to suspend their onsite programs, Chanl is offering a NO COST home-based cardiac rehab solution to help you stay connected to your patients and provide them with the support and guidance they need. Chanl will help with contracting to move quickly, and partner sites participating in this offer have launched patients within 48 hours.
Click here to learn more or contact Barbra Fagan at barbra@chanlhealth.com.
LSI Medical
LSI’s remains fully operational during the Covid-19 pandemic. Our regional teams continue to consult, install, and train at hospitals. LSI has contacted every one of our customers and discussed a myriad of ways rehabs are adapting. To name a few: re-locating their rehabs to see patients in a safer location, changing their LSI system to our ICU-mode software to re-purpose for ICU overflow capacity, and accessing their LSI system remotely to document phone sessions with current patients. Thank you for being clinicians on the front line of this pandemic and taking care of patient in need! Visit the LSI Blog for more up-to-date information.
Moving Analytics
Moving Analytics is a telehealth company dedicated to empowering individuals to live a life free of heart disease. We offer Movn, a virtual cardiac rehabilitation and prevention program. Movn is based on 20+ years of clinical research and validation on 70,000 patients and is used by several leading health systems in the U.S. including the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Allegheny Health Network and Kaiser Permanente Northwest. Moving Analytics is currently offering a special package for sites affected by COVID-19 and has released a toolkit to implement virtual cardiac rehab.
For inquiries, contact hello@movinganalytics.com or call Beth Andrews at 773-456-4733.
phas3
phas3 provides a clinically-validated platform for extending CR services to the home. Our platform helps providers administer care plans and gives patients a more accessible way to recover. Additionally, all patients who are enrolled receive a heart rate monitor, blood pressure monitor, and weight scale. This process qualifies hospitals for reimbursement under new CPT codes while patients are unable to attend in-person CR. phas3 is currently providing hospitals with our product at cost during the COVID-19 crisis. This means that hospitals can affordably provide patient-centric and accessible care while enabling an alternative revenue stream to keep the department operational.
Pritikin Intensive Cardiac Rehab
Pritikin’s comprehensive cardiac rehab program provides patients with the tools and knowledge they need for sustainable healthier lifestyles, and our commitment to our licensed Pritikin ICR providers and their patients has never been stronger. Pritikin ICR has launched a web-based Patient Resource Center featuring educational content and virtual workshops. This robust platform ensures that our clients, who have temporarily suspended or reduced cardiac rehab operations, can keep patients engaged in their recovery in the comfort and safety of their homes. As we navigate these uncertain circumstances together, Pritikin ICR is proud to do so alongside the dedicated healthcare providers at our licensed facilities.
Visit the website or contact John Cody, Vice President of Operations, at jcody@pritkin.com.
SCIFIT
During this turbulent time, we at SCIFIT know that caring for your patients never stops. Therefore SCIFIT, including sales and production, are up and running with an approximate 2 week lead time. We are also offering:
- LIVE demo webinars, over our ers.2 telemetry system
- LIVE webinars over all of our cardio and strength equipment
- Through our parent company, Life Fitness, we are offering “Workouts of the Day”, delivered by Digital Coach, free for a limited time to our customers. Register here for access: https://go.lifefitness.com/wod
Please visit www.scifit.com to learn more. For more information please contact: Sergio Telles, Clinical Applications Specialist, at 325.226.2073 or stelles@scifit.com.
ScottCare Cardiovascular Solutions
During this COVID-19 crisis, we understand the difficulties you face and impact on patient care. ScottCare sincerely wishes to thank those on the front lines. ScottCare is following preventative measures provided by health authorities to keep everyone safe. We are working remotely and meetings have moved online. But we ARE still open and building online learning for our customers. Our support team is available to update software, finish report customization for VersaCare, implement an HL7 interface or remotely install a Windows 10 tower. It will be difficult to navigate this complex situation. But together, we will.
John Jackson, Marketing & Communications Manager, ScottCare Cardiovascular Solutions
jjackson@scottcare.com
The views expressed above do not necessarily represent the opinion or position of AACVPR.