Early Scheduling Gets More Patients to Cardiac Rehab

English: Front of the Mayo Clinic Methodist Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Last Updated: 2012-12-28 14:10:20 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Andrew M. Seaman

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Scheduling heart patients' first cardiac rehabilitation session within 10 days of hospital discharge gets more of them to show up, according to a new study.

Researchers found the earlier scheduling led to an 18 percent increase in attendance at that first cardiac rehab orientation session, compared to appointments that were scheduled a month or more after discharge.