from American Heart Association, Circulation
Rehabilitation care after a heart attack can be life-saving and life-enhancing. Every year an estimated one point three million American adults with heart disease may qualify for rehab. Would it surprise you that only one in four Medicare patients participate in cardiac rehab? The statistics, published by the American Heart Association, are actually worse than that. Of the one in four heart patients eligible and covered for rehab, slightly more than a quarter actually completed the outpatient rehab. Statistics did not vary that much between ethnic groups. The study, in the American Heart Association journal, Circulation, recommends improving awareness of the value of cardiac rehabilitation along with its life-saving potential, as well as expanding the availability of rehab.