West Michigan Cardiology’s Virtual Cardiac Rehab Experience

The Patient Experience

 When a patient is first referred to cardiac rehab, they receive a call from the West Michigan Cardiology team. While on the phone, they’ll address any upfront questions and gauge which option – either on-site or virtual – would best suit the patient. They then schedule the patient for either on-site or virtual cardiac rehab. Unlike other virtual cardiac rehab options, Pritikin’s goal has always been to create a collaborative virtual solution. It is important that our virtual delivery model functions as a partnership, so that teams like West Michigan Cardiology never have their potential on-site patients approached about virtual cardiac rehab before in-person cardiac rehab. 

“My main focus is still the on-site cardiac rehab. If I learn that someone lives far, does not have transportation, has busy work schedules, etc., then I transition to the virtual idea as a second option to see what fits their schedule best.”
- Nicole Glerum, EP

 If the patient is unable to attend on-site cardiac rehab, the team will introduce virtual cardiac rehab as an option, outlining the commitment required: essentially, logging-in and completing both exercise and education sessions 3 times per week. If they are interested and wish to move forward, the team provides an overview of the process and schedules them through the Pritikin Connect platform. Then, they verify patient insurance and upload the referral along with any relevant details, such as their most recent office note and medication list, so Pritikin’s coaches and virtual educators are best able to support the patient. This all triggers an order to be 

placed for a comprehensive Patient Engagement Kit which comes complete with a cellular-enabled tablet, Patient Guidebook, resistance band set, pulse oximeter, and more.

Initially, the West Michigan Cardiology team was anxious that setting up patients for the virtual program would take too much time from their already-tight schedules. They were pleasantly surprised at the straightforward interface which makes inputting initial patient information simple.

In designing our virtual solution, Pritikin collaborated closely with the 20+ employees on our team who have prior experience working in on-site CR. Our goal was to develop a platform designed for busy CR teams without over-engineering, keeping everything tailored to the real needs of our partner sites. The West Michigan Cardiology team specifically appreciates the simplicity of checking patient notes, as well as the messaging functions to ensure they can keep tabs on their virtual patients. So far, 13 patients have enrolled in virtual cardiac rehab.

The West Michigan Cardiology team recently called one of their virtual patients to check in and see how things were going. The patient offered glowing feedback: she was enthusiastic in her response, sharing that she’s loving the virtual program because, “You can just plug in and get to work!” She added that she is sad to be nearing graduation, as she enjoys watching the live culinary presentations and learning from the various workshops. One component she specifically appreciated was the flexibility of scheduling: if she has a conflict during her scheduled session, she can log in later in the day and make up for it. 

“It is an excellent program and I highly recommend it.” – West Michigan Cardiology Virtual Cardiac Rehab Patient

Most West Michigan Cardiology patients can make in-person cardiac rehab work, and during their initial call, they are scheduled for an introductory visit to talk about the program, discuss goals, review the heart monitoring system, and exercise area. While on-site, they also review the program schedule. West Michigan Cardiology offers programming three days a week, with five different session times throughout the day. During each visit, patients attend both exercise and education.

Throughout their on-site sessions, patients are taught how to use a variety of cardio machines, including recumbent steppers, recumbent ellipticals, a lateral trainer, a total body bike, recumbent bike, upright bike, and treadmills. They also learn how to use strength training equipment, including resistance bands, free weights, and a cable machine. At both the beginning and end of their cardiac rehab experience, patients complete three fitness tests: grip strength, sit to stand, and a 6-minute walk. 

 “We always have great improvements, and I think that has a lot to do with our big focus on interval training. Patients seem to enjoy their cardiac rehab [experience]. We try to make the exercises fun, try to have good staff interaction, and patients get along well with good social support.” - Nicole Glerum, EP

The Team Experience

 Since the West Michigan Cardiology team was already familiar with the Pritikin curriculum and in-person process, training them to use Pritikin’s virtual platform was straightforward. Before officially adding virtual to their program offerings, they viewed asynchronous training videos and met with the Pritikin team once per week for 4 consecutive weeks. After their month of training, our team visited them in-person for an on-site visit and process walk-through, which completed the virtual implementation process.  

“The training videos and demo site were very self-explanatory. Videos were short, simple, and to-the-point. Our in-person training was very simple and productive. The program was quick and easy to learn. They (Pritikin) were very good at incorporating any feedback that I had as well.”
- Nicole Glerum, EP

Similar to our on-site program implementation process, the Pritikin team took the time to address all questions and concerns. The West Michigan Cardiology care team was specifically anxious about the added time it would take to get a patient ready to participate in virtual programming, including gathering the information necessary for patient enrollment and the ITP signing process. However, learning how to navigate the streamlined features within the Pritikin connect platform helped calm many of those initial concerns. The chat feature, which allows for efficient communication between the on-site team and our Pritikin educators, along with the simple ITP signature process within the platform were both much-appreciated! Beyond developing an easy-to-use platform, we chose to focus on optimizing our team of coaches and educators who facilitate our virtual program. All are trained to teach the Pritikin curriculum and have years of experience working with cardiac rehab patients on-site and in a virtual setting. Providers at our partner sites can feel confident that their virtual patients are receiving the highest quality of personalized care.

Ultimately, the goal with our virtual offering has always been to expand access to cardiac rehab amongst those who would have never made it on-site. The 13 patients so far who have enrolled in West Michigan Cardiology’s virtual program are a testament to that, as none of them would have attended in-person. As Nicole shared, “We can now help patients who do not have transportation, who otherwise would not be able to attend cardiac rehab. Some patients who live far might still prefer external referrals, but others are interested in (our) virtual Pritikin option now.”

Now that West Michigan Cardiology patients have more cardiac rehab options available to them, we look forward to seeing the expanded impact the Pritikin program can make within their community!