FHH says it’s treadmill-based, but doesn’t involve running.
Frederick, Md (KM) A program to help patients with peripheral arterial disease has been launched at Frederick Health Hospital. Kathryn Smith, the Manager of Preventive Cardiology and Outpatient Pulmonary Rehab, says P.A.D. is a building up of cholesterol and fatty tissue in the blood vessels near the body’s extremities, such as the legs. She says it can be very painful. “It’s common with patients who have coronary artery disease, or those who have stroke and diabetes,” she said.
Smith also says some patients might have it, and not know about it.
This program to help patients with peripheral arterial disease is treadmill-based. “It’s actually not running . It’s a incline-based treadmill. The patient comes in. We do an initial evaluation on the patient, and we do a modified graded exercise test on them,” she says
Smith says the angle of the incline is increased for each patient. “They walk a pretty slow pace, actually. But we increase the incline every two minutes until they develop a moderate level of discomfort in their extremities,” she says. “And then based on that exercise protocol that’s when they start them for their regular exercise. So they’re never going to be running. They just need to be able to ambulate safely.”
She also says most health insurance plans will cover this treatment. “We verify the coverage for the patient before they get started in the program so they’re aware of any out-of-pocket expenses.,:” says Smith. “The last thing we want to do is surprise them with a bill for doing the program. So we are very transparent with the patient about what their insurance will cover.”
Patients are usually referred to this program by a physician or another health care professional. “But if a patent has a known diagnosis of peripheral arterial disease, their cardiologist, their vascular surgeon, their primary care
they could refer to us without even having intervention. They don’t have to have intervention to come to our peripheral arterial rehab. They just need to have known P.A.D,” says Smith.
the 12-week program consists of 36 sessions.
By Kevin McManus