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JULES VUOTTO
By Dr. Shahzad Ahmed
If you live with or are recovering from heart disease or disorder, the Cardiac Rehabilitation Program at Lower Bucks Hospital offers you a combination of monitored exercise, education, counseling, and support to help you improve your function and quality of life. With your committed participation, we can help you reach your best possible level of physical function.
The Challenge of Underutilization of Cardiac Rehabilitation
Despite proven health outcomes for patients and reduced associated hospital readmissions, patients do not always receive a referral. Our goal is to change this and achieve a 70% or higher participation rate to address the cardiovascular diagnosis.
Cardiac Rehabilitation: A Class 1
Recommendation for the following patients:
• Congestive Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction
• Status Post Coronary Angioplasty or Stents
• Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI)
• Acute Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack)
• Cardiac Transplantation
• Stable Angina
• Peripheral Vascular Disease
• Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG)
• Status Post Valvular Surgery
• Peripheral Artery Disease
Supervised, Personalized Therapy
We understand you may feel hesitant about embarking on an exercise program and concerned about how it may affect your health. Through our program, you'll receive therapy addressing your physical health, activities of daily living, and recreation needs in a safe, supportive, and monitored environment. We'll carefully assess you and your health to design a rehabilitation regimen that meets your individual needs and helps you achieve benefits such as:
• Improved strength, endurance, and flexibility
• Less breathlessness
• More ease in performing the activities of daily living
• Increased energy to partake in hobbies, family activities, and social events
• We also provide education and support in lifestyle modification and disease prevention
Lower Bucks Hospital’s outpatient cardiovascular rehabilitation program is individualized and comprehensive, designed with the goals of modifying risk factors for heart disease and improving overall quality of life.
How do I get started? Before leaving the hospital or on your first check up with your cardiologist, ask him/her for a prescription for outpatient cardiac rehabilitation. Call the facility to make an appointment. Current national recommendations suggest that you begin outpatient cardiac rehabilitation one to three weeks after discharge from the hospital.
Dr. Shahzad Ahmed MD, FACC, FSCAI, RPVI, Interventional Cardiologist, Director Cardiology is Board Certified in Interventional Cardiology, Cardiovascular Medicine, Echocardiography, Nuclear Cardiology, Vascular Ultrasound, and Internal Medicine. He was awarded the Prestigious Award of Fellow of American College of Cardiology (FACC) in 2019 and Fellow of Society of Cardiovascular Interventions in 2020 (FSCAI). He completed internal medicine, cardiovascular and interventional cardiology training at Drexel University College of Medicine. He was appointed Assistant Professor of Medicine at Drexel University College of Medicine.
BMC Cardiology Practice is located at Lower Bucks Hospital, 501 Bath Rd, Bristol, PA. To call for an appointment with Dr. Ahmed, call 215-785-5100. You can contact Lower Bucks Hospital’s outpatient cardiac rehabilitation center at (215) 785-9133.