Texas Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation

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A Message From Your New President
We had a great turn-out for the Rodeo, Ropin
and Rehab Deep in the Heart of Texas conference
in Dallas this year. I hope you all enjoyed it!
It seems to get bigger and better each year. We
received positive feed-back from the membership
for the most part. I want you to know how
important your comments are to the board. We
want to you to express your opinions be assured
we take your comments into consideration as we
plan for future conferences. Speaking of future
conferences, plans are already underway for the
TACVPR 2009 conference. The conference will be
held at the Crowne Plaza in the Houston North
Greenspoint area on April 3rd and 4th. The hotel
has recently completed a 13 million renovation.
It is an awesome facility and I think everyone
will really enjoy the accommodations. Hope
youre planning to attend! We had two board
members that chose not to re-run this year. A
special thanks to Mary Hart and Kitty Collins for
all their hard work. We appreciate both of you!
Taking their places on the board are newcomers
Erika Abmas and Tresa Anderson. The board
depends on hard-working individuals who are
willing to devote their time and energy to make
things run smoothly. Julie Hartman, our
out-going president, deserves special recognition
for all her efforts in leading the board. She
leaves big shoes for me to fill! I know that the
only way that I will be able to do so is with the
advice, care and support of the TACVPR
board. The dog days of summer seem to have
arrived. Stay cool and enjoy your
summer! Marilyn Burwitz, RN TACVPR President
Texas Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary
Rehabilitation
Do You Know Anyone Interested in Joining
TACVPR? To join or renew your TACVPR membership,
sign up online or download a printable
membership application at www.tacvpr.org Annual
dues are 40/person
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Reimbursement Updates By Twyla Selvidge, MS
UPDATE ON OUR BILL Cardiac and Pulmonary
Rehabilitation Act of 2008 is still alive, but on
life support at this time. Recent congressional
action has not favored our efforts to get our
bill passed as law. Our bill was attached to
the large Medicare package HR 6331. Part of this
package included a bill that would delay the
10.6 decrease in physician Medicare payments. On
June 27, 2008 the House passed this bill. On the
Senate side, they had their own similar bill, S
3101. The Senate Democratic leadership decided
to bring up HR 6331 for a vote (and not vote on S
3101). This action circumvented the need for a
conference to address differences between the
House and Senate versions. In order to bring the
bill to a vote, a procedural vote from both
Democrat and Republican senators was necessary to
end debate and required 60 votes. Heres how
the voting went All Democrats and 9 Republican
Senators voted for cloture (limiting debate
causing an immediate vote to be taken on the
issue). BUT! This left the Democrats one vote shy
of the 60 votes needed. Since parliamentary
rules require that if a bill is to be
reconsidered, the motion to reconsider must come
from someone on the losing side. Senator Harry
Reid, D, Nevada switched his vote so he could
bring a motion to reconsider the bill at a later
date. Because the vote failed, there will no
action until after the Congressional 4th of July
recess. Once the Senate returns, it has various
options it could pursue. So, we once again wait
for our bill to be passed. This last failure of
our bill IS confusing and seems to surround
political party issues. In the AACVPRs own
words, many members are understandably a bit
confused about what is transpiring in Congress,
trying to decipher what it means and what
happens next. To make a long story short, the
AACVPR stated in their last reimbursement update
that they will keep their members apprised of
legislative issues as they arise. I personally
cant wait for the update. The CPT code 93798 is
used for both the technical piece (thats you,
the RN, EP, etc) and the professional piece (the
physician). Since this 10.6 reduction in
Medicare physician fee schedule will affect the
professional side, physicians supervising Cardiac
Rehab will be take a hit on the reimbursement
for Cardiac Rehab. At the time of the writing of
this article, the bill may have gone through
legislation one more time. If so, hopefully it
is good news! UPDATE! We received an updated
email from the AACVPR on Friday, July 11th
stating Wednesday, July 9th was a monumental
day for cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation!
Both the House and the Senate voted in favor of
HR 6331, the large Medicare bill that included
our bill. The bill will be sent to the
President who has indicated that he will veto
this bill and send it back to Congress. However,
both the House and the Senate Democratic
leaderships are confident they could override
such a veto. Per AACVPR, there are a number of
scenarios that could unfold as this bill travels
to the White House and potentially back to
Congress, but we remain confident that our
provisions will remain intact as they are not
controversial and do have strong bipartisan
support. We are 99 of the way home, and as
always, AACVPR will continue to keep you up to
date on the progress of this bill as it unfolds.
We have strong reason to believe all will be
resolved prior to the August recess in a couple
of weeks." UPDATE! UPDATE! Read all about it!
On July 15, 2008, Congress overrode President
Bushs veto! The Cardiac and Pulmonary
Rehabilitation Act of 2008 is now law under the
Social Security Act.
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2008 TACVPR Conference Wrap Up By Julie
Hartman, MS, FAACVPR
Thank you to all who attended the TACVPR
Conference on April 25th and 26th at the
Doubletree Campbell Centre in Dallas. We had a
great line up of speakers and were pleased to
offer 8.25 continuing education credits, as well
as, a unique opportunity to network with other
Cardiac Pulmonary Rehab professionals. We
received a lot of great feedback from those of
you who attended. Some of the comments were as
follows Great speakers especially keynote
speakers were fascinating inspiring Enjoyed
the social- the view was great! Good
opportunities to network This years conference
was excellent! The hotel was good, small floors,
fewer rooms/disruptions and comfortable
rooms/beds. We love to hear the compliments, of
course, but it also helps us to better serve you
for next year by hearing what didnt work well.
Some of the comments on what could be improved
were Rooms were too cold Bathroom facilities
should be more readily available Not enough
chairs in some of the breakouts CD of
presentations Overall, it was a successful event
and were excited to have plans underway for the
2009 Conference. Mark your calendars for next
years conference which will be held at the
Crowne Plaza in the Houston North Greenspoint
area on April 3rd and 4th. More information will
be available as we get closer to the date.
Congratulations to Karla Davila for winning the
Vendor Card Drawing. She will receive a free
2009 TACVPR membership and 2009 TACVPR conference
registration!!!!
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Meet Your 2008-2009 TACVPR Board of Directors
Marilyn Burwitz, RN President East Texas Medical
Center Fairfield
Julie Hartman, MS, CES, FAACVPR Immediate Past
President THE HEART HOSPITAL Baylor Plano
Dean Diersing, MS President Elect University
Medical Center Health Point Fitness Cardiac
Rehab
Twyla Selvidge, MS Treasurer East Texas Medical
Center
Nita Pack, RRT Secretary Charlton Methodist
Hospital
Poppy Patterson, RN Past President Hillcrest
Health System Getterman Wellness Center
Lorri Lee, BS, RCEP Past President McKenna
Memorial Hospital
Danielle Strauss, BSN, RN-BC, BS Baylor Jack and
Jane Hamilton Heart and Vascular Hospital
Barbara Flato, MSN, RN-BC, FAACVPR CHRISTUS Spohn
Cardiac Rehab
Erika Abmas, RRT Baylor University Medical Center
Tresa Anderson, RRT Shannon Medical Center
If you are interested in serving on the TACVPR
Board of Directors, please contact Julie Hartman
at julieob_at_baylorhealth.edu. Elections are
held at the annual TACVPR conference.
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Certification Corner By Barbara Flato MSN,
RN-BC, FAACVPR

• This certificate shall expire on
  August 31, 2009.
• Have you looked at your Program Certification
  Certificate lately? Does it say the same thing
  as mine? If so, then now is the time to begin
  compiling your documentation for the
  recertification process. We currently have 43
  certified programs in Texas and are looking
  forward to adding a few more in August when the
  AACVPR Board of Directors bless the work of the
  Certification and Recertification Committees. If
  you are thinking of applying for Certification
  this year but have yet to begin getting your
  documentation together ITS TIME!!!! Although
  this years applications will not be up on the
  website until September, they are essentially
  unchanged from last years application. In a
  nutshell..
• Pull the application off the AACVPR website
  (www.aacvpr.org)
• Read the application from start to finish
• Work on the hardest Tabs first.
• Competencies, Exercise Prescription, Outcomes,
  Care Plan)
• Make it a group project. If you are a one man
  show enlist family and friends!!!
• Three tabs a month if you are trying to certify
  for the first time and two tabs a month if this
  is your recertification year. Starting today!!!
• Feel free to contact the Texas committee members
  at the state or national level when preparing
  your application. These volunteers are happy to
  work with you to help you achieve AACVPR program
  certification or recertification.
• Barbara Flato Poppy Patterson
• barbara.flato_at_christushealth.org ppatterson_at_hillc
  rest.net
• AACVPR Recertification Committee AACVPR
  Recertification Committee
• Stacey Dramiga Laura Raymond
• Stacey.dramiga_at_amedd.army.mil laura.raymond_at_stda
  vids.com

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First Statewide COPD Summit Convenes in Austin
TX By Kitty Collins, RRT

• On June 21st a group of over 100 Physicians,
  healthcare providers, patients and
• caregivers attended the first COPD Summit at the
  Hyatt on Town Lake in Austin Texas.
• The participants were all stakeholders in working
  towards creating a Statewide COPD
• Coalition following in the steps of four other
  states that have successfully launched
• statewide coalitions. After a full morning of
  lectures the participants split into four
• working groups to discuss specific goals that
  would aid in implementing a statewide
• action plan. The following objectives were
  identified.
• Raise public awareness of COPD in Texas among the
  general population, at risk population, and
  policy makers.
• Enhance the prevention of COPD, including
  promotion of smoking cessation activities that
  are integrated into healthcare, workplace, and
  government institutions in the aim to reduce the
  burden of the disease.
• Increase COPD awareness among primary care
  healthcare workers and promote early detection
  and appropriate treatment of the disease
• Provide a statewide network of resources for
  those living with COPD and their caregivers to
  improve their self-management skills in the aim
  to decrease the morbidity from this disease
• Serve as a lobbying body on behalf patients with
  COPD regarding policies and legislations
  pertaining management issues such as
  reimbursement for medications, respiratory care
  and home medical equipment, pulmonary
  rehabilitation and others
• Institute and increase surveillance programs for
  COPD through the Behavioral Risk Factor
  Surveillance System (BRFSS) and other data
  collection tools to obtain specific data about
  the morbidity and mortality of COPD in Texas
• One thing that was recognized was in order for
  several of the objectives to be
• successful the state should be broken down into
  at least four regions. Increasing COPD
• awareness and enhancing education will need to be
  worked on at local levels and will need

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Whole Person Wellness By Tresa Anderson, RRT
There are many things that fall under Whole
Person Wellness. We must realize that health is
more than having a body that works properly. It
includes physical, emotional, social, spiritual,
and intellectual dimensions as well as
occupational and vocational dimensions. Health
involves all of you your mind and emotions,
your connection with other people, your sense of
hope, and your satisfaction with work, as well as
your body. One should have hobbies/
interests/activities which bring you pleasure
outside your work or studies. You should be
comfortable with the direction of your future
plans. Can you accurately assess your strengths
and weaknesses? Are you doing what you want to do
with your life? These dimensions encourage
goal setting for ones personal enrichment.
Vocation wellness is linked to the creation of a
positive attitude about personal and professional
efficacy (the belief in ones ability to
successfully perform desired task), and personal
choice. These concepts change the focus from what
we cant do to what we can do. When you assess
these areas you may find that the things you
thought were so important are not what are the
most important to you in your life, and make
changes accordingly. In future issues we will
discuss the social, spiritual, intellectual,
physical, and emotional dimensions of Whole
Person Wellness. If you have information you
would like to share on this topic feel free to
email me at tresaanderson_at_shannonhealth.org.
TACVPR Members Only Section Have you had the
chance to check out the Members Only section of
the TACVPR website? If you answered no to this
question, take a minute to log on to
www.tacvpr.org to see what it has to offer. You
can access TACVPR newsletters, the Texas Program
Directory and more! For log-in questions,
please e-mail Dean Diersing at
mdiersing_at_teamumc.com.
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TACVPR RecruitAPal (RAP) Program
What is the RAP Program? The RecruitAPal
program was initiated in time for the conference
in 2007. This program starts on January 1st each
year and continues to the start of TACVPR annual
conference. For each new person you recruit to
join the TACVPR or to attend the conference you
earn points. You may also earn points for an
approved poster presentation. (A new person is
someone who was not a member over the past year
nor attended the previous conference). The Point
System 1 point Each new member recruited
between Jan 1st and the conference 2
points Each new person brought to conference 1
point An approved poster presentation The
AWARDS 5 points Earns a free membership for a
year 7 points Earns a free conference fee for
the following year IMPORTANT Make sure to have
your name filled in the RAP Program Referral
section as the referring person on the membership
form and the conference registration form.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING RAP
(Refer-A-Pall) WINNERS FOR 2008 The following
have won a free 2009 Conference
Registration JoAnn Wilson (2) with 18
points Tresa Anderson with 10 points Dean
Diersing with 8 points Nita Pack with 8
points The following have won a free 2009 Free
Membership Janie Harrison with 6 points
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IN OTHER NEWS

• North Texas Association of Cardiovascular
  Pulmonary Rehabilitation
• SUMMER CONFERENCE
• Please Join Us For FUN, FOOD AND CNEs
• WHEN Saturday, August 2, 2008
• WHERE Patterson Medical Building
• 405 South Nolen Dr., Suite 200,
  Southlake, TX 76092
• SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
• 830-900 Continental Breakfast
• 900-1000 A Comprehensive Approach to
  Diabetic Patients In the Cardiac Rehab Setting,
  Dr. Amit Khera
• 1015-1115 Identifying Postural and
  Musculoskeletal Abnormalities in Cardiac Rehab
  Patients, Susan Beckham, PhD
• 1115-1205 Practicum Susan Beckham, PhD
• Learn to perform tests to recognize
  Musculoskeletal Abnormalities
• Learn to perform and teach appropriate
  exercises
• 1215-130 Lunch and short Business Meeting
• Seating is limited, so please RSVP as soon as
  possible to Lauren Jones

JOB OPENING Full Time Cardiac Rehab Nurse at
Baylor Jack and Jane Hamilton Heart and Vascular
Hospital in Dallas, TX. For more information
call Danielle Strauss at 214-820-3050 or email at
daniells_at_baylorhealth.edu
Is Your AACVPR Membership Up to Date? AACVPR
membership dues expired June 30th Dont forget
to renew! Membership fees 185
Member/Associate Member 75 Student Go to
www.aacvpr.org to join or renew your membership.