Outpatient Cardiac Rehabilitation

Full time cardiac rehabilitation course costs are more in reputed hospitals and rehabilitation centers. Also some times, the medical policies do not cover the course fees. Therefore the hospitals and medical centers offer a new type of rehabilitation procedure. Instead of full time i.e. the leaving course, these centers offer a rehab course which a patient can follow by staying at his house. He just has to come to the center for the treatment. This is called as Outpatient Cardiac Rehabilitation. As the patient has to approach the center every time, the outpatient rehab is only available for Phase 2 and Phase 3. It is a very cost effective option as compared to the full time course. It costs only one third of the full time course.

After getting rehab treatment in Phase one along with appropriate medicines, the patient is discharged from the hospital. For getting admission to the outpatient cardiac rehabilitation program, the patient (or the concerned person) has to do the necessary paper work. After processing the papers and satisfying different norms, the patient is given admission to the course. The rehab fee for the course is different, as per the individual hospital.

At the start of the phase two a specialist in cardic rehab explain the flow of the program and its importance to the patient. A psychologist helps the patient in gaining his confidence back. Meanwhile, a dietitian comes into the picture. The dietitian prepares a perfectly balanced diet plan for the patient. The patient has to strictly follow this diet chart throughout his rehab process.

A Special Cardiac Exercise Specialists is then introduced to the patient. The exercise expert coaches the patient some exercises which are specially designed for increasing the stress tolerance capacity of the heart. In the Phase two, the exercise person also helps the patient to perform these exercises, while having a close look at the performance of the heart with the help of different machines. The exercise expert slowly increases the intensity of the exercises in order to boost the performance of the heart. In the phase 2, the patient has to visit the rehab center twice a week with prior appointment.

After around 7 - 8 weeks of treatment in Phase two, the patient is introduced to Phase three. In this phase, the patient and his family are educated well about the precautions to be taken in future in order to avoid a heart trouble; also they are given training about handling an emergency situation without being panicky. The patient is introduced to new type of exercises which are little difficult to perform than Phase 2 exercises. For this phase, the patient has to visit the rehab center once a week. Also the dosage of medicines is reduced in this phase by the physician.

These all above mentioned processes definitely help to improve the stamina of the patient's heart and hence the patient's ability to handle excess mental and physical stress. From the above discussion we may definitely conclude that outpatient rehabilitation services provide a good treatment option for cardiac patients.