Scott & White Healthcare’s Cardiac Rehabilitation Program receives AACVPR accreditation

National organization certifies hospital specialty care program

The Cardiac Rehabilitation Program at Scott & White Healthcare in Temple has received accreditation from the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR).

Cardiac rehabilitation is a medical program designed to help patients recover following a heart attack, coronary angioplasty or cardiac surgery. The program is designed to improve a patient's overall health through a comprehensive plan of exercise, diet and lifestyle modification. The vast majority of patients who present with heart disease do so because of a lifetime of behaviors that contribute to heart disease. In order to ensure a healthy future cardiac rehabilitation helps patients learn what they can do to help to prevent more heart disease.

"The certification of this program means that we have fulfilled all the requirements of the AACVPR, and that by doing so we are acknowledged as a high quality program," said Keith Birkemeier, exercise physiologist and supervisor of Scott & White's Cardiac Rehabilitation Program. "Patients and families look for programs that are considered the best, and the classification of a program as 'certified' helps them locate and choose a program for their care."

James M. Schmitz, M.D., medical director of the Cardiology Clinic at the Scott & White Heart and Vascular Institute, noted that studies have found that patients who participate in cardiac rehabilitation programs have significantly improved survival. Moreover, patients who continue to attend cardiac rehabilitation not only live longer but also better lives.