Skip to main content
 

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Editor's Commentary
    • Coming Next Month
    • Archives
    • Top 10 Papers in 2020
  • Authors
    • Author Guidelines
    • Submit a Manuscript
  • Reviewers
    • Reviewer Information
    • Create Reviewer Account
    • Appreciation of Reviewers
  • CRCE
    • Through the Journal
    • JournalCasts
    • AARC University
    • PowerPoint Template
  • Open Forum
    • Call for Abstracts 2021
    • 2020 Abstracts
    • Previous Open Forums
  • Podcast
    • English
    • Portugûes
    • 国语

User menu

  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
American Association for Respiratory Care
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
American Association for Respiratory Care

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Editor's Commentary
    • Coming Next Month
    • Archives
    • Top 10 Papers in 2020
  • Authors
    • Author Guidelines
    • Submit a Manuscript
  • Reviewers
    • Reviewer Information
    • Create Reviewer Account
    • Appreciation of Reviewers
  • CRCE
    • Through the Journal
    • JournalCasts
    • AARC University
    • PowerPoint Template
  • Open Forum
    • Call for Abstracts 2021
    • 2020 Abstracts
    • Previous Open Forums
  • Podcast
    • English
    • Portugûes
    • 国语
  • Follow aarc on Twitter
  • Visit aarc on Facebook
Research ArticleConference Proceedings

Pulmonary Rehabilitation for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Scientific and Political Agenda

Bonnie F Fahy
Respiratory Care January 2004, 49 (1) 28-38;
Bonnie F Fahy
Department of Pulmonary Rehabilitation, St Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix, Arizona.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: [email protected]
  • Article
  • References
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is the standard of care for patients suffering chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This report describes and defines PR and reviews the evidence regarding the efficacy of PR. COPD management guidelines that include PR have been published by the European Respiratory Society, the American Thoracic Society, and the British Thoracic Society, and those guidelines were supported by evidence-based guidelines published jointly by the American College of Chest Physicians and the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation. The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease, which is also evidence-based, included the recommendation for referral to PR. Despite those recommendations, the availability of comprehensive PR programs (defined as being compliant with national practice standards) is limited. In the United States the lack of a national policy for PR reimbursement has led to differences in compensation among insurance providers, based on differences in the Local Medical Review Policies established by the “fiscal intermediaries.” Since 1998 the American Association for Respiratory Care, the American College of Chest Physicians, the American Thoracic Society, and the National Association for Medical Direction of Respiratory Care have jointly lobbied for clear, consistent guidelines from the United States Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA, which was recently renamed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services [CMS]). In 2002 new Medicare/Medicaid billing codes (“G codes”) became available for billing PR procedures, but unfortunately the instructions for the use of those codes differ among the Local Medical Review Policies. There has been little success in the effort to establish a national coverage policy for PR. The respiratory therapist holds a unique role in PR. In the respiratory therapist's training curriculum PR is specifically addressed, making the respiratory therapist an asset to the multidisciplinary PR team. With their many clinical opportunities for making contact with COPD patients and physicians, respiratory therapists can be effective advocates for PR.

  • pulmonary rehabilitation
  • guidelines
  • reimbursement
  • respiratory
  • therapist

Footnotes

  • Correspondence: Bonnie F Fahy RN MN, Pulmonary Rehabilitation, St Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, 350 West Thomas Road, Phoenix AZ 85013. E-mail: bfahy{at}chw.edu.
  • Copyright © 2004 by Daedalus Enterprises Inc.
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Respiratory Care: 49 (1)
Respiratory Care
Vol. 49, Issue 1
1 Jan 2004
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • Cover (PDF)
  • Index by author
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on American Association for Respiratory Care.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Pulmonary Rehabilitation for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Scientific and Political Agenda
(Your Name) has sent you a message from American Association for Respiratory Care
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the American Association for Respiratory Care web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Pulmonary Rehabilitation for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Scientific and Political Agenda
Bonnie F Fahy
Respiratory Care Jan 2004, 49 (1) 28-38;

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero

Share
Pulmonary Rehabilitation for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Scientific and Political Agenda
Bonnie F Fahy
Respiratory Care Jan 2004, 49 (1) 28-38;
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF

Related Articles

Cited By...

Keywords

  • pulmonary rehabilitation
  • guidelines
  • reimbursement
  • respiratory
  • therapist

Info For

  • Subscribers
  • Institutions
  • Advertisers

About Us

  • About Us
  • Editorial Board
  • Reprints/Permissions

AARC

  • Membership
  • Meetings
  • Clinical Practice Guidelines

More

  • Contact Us
  • RSS
American Association for Respiratory Care

Print ISSN: 0020-1324        Online ISSN: 1943-3654

© Daedalus Enterprises, Inc.

Powered by HighWire