Studies have shown that cardiac rehabilitation is effective in prolonging survival and reducing disability in patients with coronary heart disease. Yet, according to a study by HCP’s Sharon-Lise Normand, PhD, and colleagues from Brandeis University, these services are underutilized in outpatients after hospitalization for a heart attack or cardiac bypass grafting surgery. The researchers analyzed Medicare claims data for over 250,000 cardiac patients and found that only 18.7 percent had at least one session of cardiac rehabilitation during the year following their discharge from the hospital.

Read the abstract on the Circulation website. Read the American Heart Association press release. Read an article about this study in the Boston Globe.