Hermann Cardiac Program Part of Medicare Research Project

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has invited the Mind/Body Medical Institute’s Cardiac Wellness Program at Memorial Hermann Healthcare System to participate in a multi-year Medicare Lifestyle Modification Program Demonstration.

"Medicare sponsorship provides for eligible Medicare enrollees in Houston to participate in one of the country’s leading-edge cardiac wellness programs with no out-of-pocket costs," says Dr. Mark Lambert, medical director of the Mind/Body Medical Institute Cardiac Wellness program.

The Cardiac Wellness Program at Memorial Hermann is an affiliate program of the Boston-based Mind/Body Medical Institute at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. The program will be offered to up to 1,800 Houston Medicare beneficiaries with heart disease in a demonstration to measure the effectiveness of a lifestyle modification program in treating patients who are at high risk for revascularization.

"Recent research has suggested that aggressive risk factor treatment may reverse heart disease, which will in turn potentially avoid the need for an invasive intervention," said Dr. Jeffery L. Kang, director of the Office of Clinical Standards and Quality at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

The demonstration is designed to compare two national, multi-site, cardiovascular lifestyle modification models that offer a 12-month, interdisciplinary, clinical outpatient treatment program. Patients who participate in the Cardiac Wellness Program, which is based on moderate aerobic exercise, individual nutrition counseling and a comprehensive stress management program, will be compared to similar patients who receive more traditional services under the Medicare program.

"We are pleased that the value of our cardiovascular program has been recognized by the federal government for further research," said Dr. Herbert Benson, founding president of the Mind/Body Medical Institute and associate professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. "We look forward to the program’s widespread dissemination."

Factors to be assessed in an independent evaluation of the performance of the two programs include quality of care delivery, treatment outcomes, patient satisfaction, and potential savings to Medicare.

Other sites around the country expected to participate in the demonstration include Boston; Boca Raton, Fla.; Warwick, R.I.; Nashville, Tenn.; South Bend, Ind.; Portsmouth, Richmond, Newport News, and Norfolk, Va.; and Tacoma, Wash.

To participate, or for more information, contact the Mind/Body Medical Institute at Memorial Hermann at (713) 776-5020.

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