Improving Veteran Referral to Cardiac Rehabilitation

Launched by VA OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT · Jul 14, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This study is looking at a new program called the Veterans Cardiac Rehabilitation Referral Program (VCR2P) to see if it helps more Veterans get referred to and attend cardiac rehabilitation after heart-related hospital stays. Cardiac rehabilitation is a special program that helps people recover and stay healthy after heart problems like heart attacks or heart surgery. The research will involve 816 Veterans treated at VA hospitals in Nashville, Dallas, and Gainesville over one year. The study will compare how many Veterans were referred to and attended rehab before and after the program started. It will also gather feedback from doctors, nurses, and Veterans to understand what makes the program work well or what challenges it faces.

Veterans who have been hospitalized for certain heart conditions or procedures—such as a heart attack, heart valve surgery, or heart failure—at one of the three VA centers may be part of this study. There are no strict exclusion rules during the study, but afterward, those who could not attend rehab for specific reasons (like serious health issues or choosing not to participate) will be considered separately. Participants won’t need to do anything different right away since the study looks at existing hospital referrals, but their experiences and those of their healthcare team will help improve how Veterans are supported in cardiac rehab. If successful, this program could expand to other VA hospitals to help even more Veterans recover and stay healthy after heart problems.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • All Veterans hospitalized with acute myocardial infarction, percutaneous coronary intervention, cardiac valve surgery, coronary artery bypass grafting, or systolic heart failure at the three participating VA medical centers (Nashville, Dallas, and Gainesville).
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • No exclusion criteria during the intervention period
• • however, post-hoc analysis will exclude Veterans with documented reasons preventing CR attendance including death during hospitalization or within 30 days of discharge, discharge to inpatient rehabilitation or skilled nursing facilities, significant cognitive impairment, high-risk ventricular arrhythmias, or explicit refusal of CR services.