Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program

Our two-part program helps you learn how to breathe easier and improve your quality of life through:

• Exercise training to help you exercise safely, strengthen your muscles and get your energy back.
• Education and counseling to help you understand and manage your lung condition.

You can benefit from pulmonary rehabilitation if you have:

• Asthma
• Emphysema
• Chronic bronchitis
• Bronchiectasis
• Cystic fibrosis
• A neuromuscular disease
• Lung cancer
• A history of smoking
• Had lung surgery

Enrollment Guidelines

• Patient must have chronic, but stable, pulmonary impairment that cannot improve by medical management
• PFT – FVC, FEV1, and /or DLCO < 60%
• Pulmonary disease symptoms – documents a significant impairment of function level
• Expectation of measurable improvement
• Patient must be physically able, motivated and willing

Benefits

Pulmonary rehabilitation can make a difference. It is a safe, rewarding way to help you:

• decrease symptoms like being short of breath, coughing and wheezing
• breathe better
• get stronger
• decrease stress
• reduce the risks of future lung problems and related hospital admissions

Health Goals

The goals are to help you feel better and be more active. Your doctor or nurse clinician can help you meet these goals through:

• breathing exercises 
• conserving energy
• managing stress
• quitting smoking 
• controlling your weight
• taking medicines as needed
• doing aerobic exercise
• eating healthy

Pulmonary Rehabilitation Team

Your pulmonary rehabilitation team is made up of many health care providers including:

• doctors
• respiratory therapists
• exercise physiologists
• nurses
• dietitians
• physical therapists
• occupational therapists
• social service providers
• pastoral care providers

Our pulmonary rehabilitation team teaches patients to:

• learn about your lung condition
• learn what you can do to help your lungs
• follow your treatment plan
• know how to conserve energy so you can do the things you enjoy
• build confidence in what you can do
• ask the right questions
• know if you have any new problems

Insurance Coverage

Your insurance carrier will most likely pay for some or all the cost of your pulmonary rehabilitation.

Pulmonary Diagnoses Covered under Medicare Guidelines:

• Obstructive Disease
• COPD – Chronic Bronchitis & Emphysema
• Alpha 1 Antitrypsin Deficiency
• Asthma & asthmatic bronchitis
• Bronchiectasis
• Cystic Fibrosis
• Bronchiolitis Obliterans
• Restrictive Disease
• Interstitial disease – fibrosis, occupational or environmental, Sarcoidosis