Cardiac Rehabilitation and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Persistent Declines in Cardiac Rehabilitation Participation and Access Among US Medicare Beneficiaries.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on participation in and availability of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is unknown.

Methods

Among eligible Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries, we evaluated, by month, the number of CR sessions attended per 100 000 beneficiaries, individuals eligible to initiate CR, and centers offering in-person CR between January 2019 and December 2021. We compared these outcomes between 2 periods: December 1, 2019 through February 28, 2020 (period 1, before declaration of the pandemic-related national emergency) and October 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021 (period 2, the latest period for which data are currently available).

Results

In period 1, Medicare beneficiaries participated in (mean±SD) 895±84 CR sessions per 100 000 beneficiari

SUBMITTER: Varghese MS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9749950 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature