Cardiac rehabilitation is a proven method of improving heart disease risk factors over time, especially after cardiac events like heart attacks or surgery, and yet, only 30% of eligible patients go. AdventHealth Pepin Heart Institute is incorporating the proven Pritikin intensive cardiac rehabilitation (ICR) method to offer a comprehensive approach to rehabilitation and heart disease prevention for patients.
Kimberly Segarra, manager of outpatient cardiopulmonary rehabilitation at AdventHealth Tampa and Bob Brown, the vice president and administrator at the Pepin Heart Institute at AdventHealth Tampa share more about this program and how it's helping patients improve their cardiac risk factors.
What is Intensive Cardiac Rehab?
The Pritikin ICR program enhances traditional rehabilitation by focusing on the combination of exercise, nutrition and healthy mindset rather than exercise or diet alone, providing whole-person care to all patients
“This structured education gives patients the tools to prevent future health events by tying everything together to focus on modifiable risk factors,” says Segarra.
During ICR, you will exercise for up to an hour, then attend personalized education sessions, either one-on-one or in a small group. You will have access to PritikinLIVE, which livestreams registered dieticians who conduct virtual cooking classes and provide educational support online.
Traditional cardiac rehabilitation is 36 sessions, but during ICR, you work with the Cardiac Rehab staff for 72 sessions , with exercise and education taking place every visit. ICR usually takes place over three months, with several sessions each week.
“This extra time is important because cardiac rehabilitation covers things like nutrition, exercise, disease management, medication adherence, smoking cessation and mindset that can be hard to cover in 36 sessions,” says Brown. “Intensive rehabilitation allows for a tailored program for patients without rushing because we can spend time to learn what is important to them.”
Is Intensive Cardiac Rehabilitation Right for Me?
You may be eligible for ICR if you’ve experienced:
• Heart attack
• Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG)
• Heart failure
• Heart or heart-lung transplant
• Heart valve procedures
• Stable angina
• Stent placement
Ideally, you should start the program as quickly as possible after your cardiac event or surgery. If you’ve received major surgery, you may have to wait up to a month, but if you’ve had a stent placement, you may be able to start rehabilitation within the same week.
Benefits of Intensive Cardiac Rehab
Both traditional and intensive cardiac rehabilitation benefit patients, but the Pritikin ICR program has gone through rigorous studies that prove better outcomes for:
• Blood pressure
• Cholesterol, including LDLs and triglycerides
• Inflammation
• Weight
What to Expect at Intensive Cardiac Rehabilitation
Your physician will need to refer you for cardiac rehabilitation after a cardiac event. Pritikin ICR is covered by most insurance, including Medicare. Once the cardiac rehabilitation team has your referral in hand, they will share more information on what to expect.
During your first appointment, your care team will conduct an evaluation, including taking your health history, reviewing your medications and conducting surveys on your diet, quality of life and mental health. You’ll also have a six-minute walk test to get a baseline for your endurance.
“We use these surveys and tests as a baseline to set goals for the program that we can review at the end to check your progress,” says Segarra. “If you score high on one of these assessments, we’ll reassess more frequently.”
You’ll work with a comprehensive group of specialists throughout your rehabilitation experience. This multidisciplinary care team includes AdventHealth Tampa nurses, respiratory therapists, exercise physiologists and patient unit coordinators. These specialists work with registered dieticians from Pritikin who will livestream educational content for patients to view during their sessions.
Your care team will record all information about your session in your electronic medical record to ensure that your care is coordinated with your cardiologist, surgeon, primary care provider and anyone else who needs to know to make sure you can get back to full health.
“Cardiac rehabilitation often has a negative connotation, but it’s really about learning how to modify behaviors and make minor lifestyle changes that will lead to a big improvement,” says Brown. “We want to reassure patients they can renew normal activities they enjoy and help them understand how they can get there.”
Keep Your Heart Beating at Its Strongest
Cardiac rehabilitation gives patients like you who’ve experienced a cardiac event a chance to improve heart health and safely return to the life and activities you love.
Learn more about cardiac rehabilitation at AdventHealth.
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