In Case You Missed It | AACVPR Annual Meeting 2016
With the serenade of Jazz bands in the background, LSI joined over 1,000 others in the cardiac rehab industry to kick off one of the year’s largest cardiopulmonary events. The 31st AACVPR Annual Meeting was held in New Orleans, September 7-10, and embraced the host city’s vibrancy with a feel of celebration.
As industry advocates, LSI is committed to continually looking forward to the future of cardiac and pulmonary rehab. Conferences like AACVPR provide LSI an opportunity to listen and learn from other industry leaders and share new knowledge with our customers.
We know time and budget constraints can make it difficult to attend cardiopulmonary conferences, so we’ve compiled our top conference takeaways in case you missed it:
- Program Certification Changes are on the Calendar
Performance-based measurements are here to stay, with data collection beginning April 1 through December 31, 2017. Here’s what you need to know: cardiac and pulmonary rehabs will be measured on differing items (see chart below).
Individualized Treatment Plans (ITP) must be submitted for cardiac rehab patients with at least one active risk factor and for pulmonary patients using oxygen. Exercise prescriptions are now included directly on the ITP page.
- COPD Numbers are Growing
COPD is the third leading cause of death and the second leading cause of disability. These numbers weren’t predicted to be seen until 2020. Currently fifteen million Americans report a COPD diagnosis, although many cases go unreported. In fact 50% of adults with low pulmonary function were unaware they had COPD.
With the alarming growth of these numbers, we hope to see a larger emphasis placed on using cardiopulmonary rehab as a treatment for disease.
- AACVPR Registry Continues to Advance
The Registry has updated to include: updates to the medication fields to track recent hospitalizations, pulmonary function test (PFT) measures and an increased range for waist circumference.
AACVPR has also announced resources for increased support for those using the registry. If you are a Registry super user, looking to get connected with a Registry committee member for guidance and assistance, check out this contact list for more information.
- Announcements from Medicare/Medicaid Look to the Future
The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced a new cardiac rehab incentive project, including a proposal for a new bundled payment model.
CMS is focusing on how to encourage early enrollment into rehab, increase referral rates and increase overall use of cardiac rehab use. To do this, CMS will randomly select 98 hospitals to receive a financial incentive.
Learn more about the proposal in CMS’s official announcement here.
Each conference LSI is amazed at the dedication and forward-thinking efforts of those in the cardiac rehab industry. We’re already looking forward with anticipation to next year’s conference held October 4-7, 2017 in Charleston, SC.
For more information on the announcements and changes covered at the AAACVPR conference or questions about what they mean to you, give your local clinical specialists a call at 800-846-1279.
