Government Healthcare Policy, Business and Technology

Will paying hospitals get more patients into cardiac rehab?

Modern Healthcare: After patients have a heart attack or heart surgery, interventional cardiologist Dr. Amit Keswani urges them to go into cardiac rehabilitation. The program of supervised exercise and counseling helps cardiac patients recover and lowers their risk of future heart attacks, chest pain, hospital admission and a slew of other medical problems.

But at most, only about half actually do it. “I wish that it would be more,” Keswani said. “I tell my patients: It's better than any medicine.”

Some patients can't afford the co-pays. Others live too far from the cardiac rehab facility that's part of Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, where Keswani works.

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