Moving Analytics recently attended AACVPR’s 32nd Annual Conference to catch up with cardiac rehab professionals from across the country. Here are our top 5 takeaways for Virtual Cardiac Rehab!

1. Our most commonly asked questions was “How do we implement a home-based or hybrid CR program?” There is certainly a greater awareness of alternative models, and programs are interested in knowing exactly what an implementation entails. This was our most commonly asked question this year, while last year’s most commonly asked question was “What is a Hybrid or Home-based CR program?”, showing movement from “what” to “how.”

2. Home-based CR was a Popular Topic for Presentations This year at AACVPR, 5 presentations focused on home-based CR, with 4 of those focused squarely on smartphone-enabled home-based CR programs. The ability to deliver CR sessions through a smartphone is relatively new but Virtual Cardiac Rehab is becoming widely known and accepted in the industry. Hospitals across the country are adopting home-based approaches to CR and smartphone technology is being recognized as the safe and effective delivery method that it is.

3. New Guidelines and Best Practices for Home-based CR to Come in 2018 The AHA, ACC, and AACVPR are expected to release new scientific position statements on the clinical evidence, guidelines and best practices for home-based CR.

4. Reduced Emphasis on EPMs and Positioning Programs for Value-based Care Although CMS is proposing the cancellation of the cardiac bundle and CR incentive programs, hospital leaders are continuing to prepare for value based care. Programs are looking to extend the reach of their programs and become a driving force of data driven value-based care initiatives at their hospital.

5. Programs are Encouraging Patients to Self-manage and Promote Healthy Habits Encouraging self-management of a patient’s health was a common thread in many of the presentations at AACVPR this year. Best practices for collaborative self-management training with patients were discussed along with motivational interviewing as a method of guiding positive behavior change and successful self-management. Motivational interviewing has become a popular way of helping patients develop and maintain healthy behavior changes beyond the completion of their CR.

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