UCLA Is Now Promoting Dr. Ornish’s Whole Food Plant Based Lifestyle!

In 2010, Medicare began covering “Dr. Dean Ornish’s Program for Reversing Heart Disease” as a branded program under a new benefit category, “intensive cardiac rehabilitation” (ICR). This was the first time that Medicare had covered an integrative medicine program.

Healthways is the largest independent global provider of well-being improvement solutions. Anthem (formerly WellPoint) is one of the nation’s leading health benefits companies. Back in February of 2014, Healthways entered into an agreement with Anthem whereby Anthem’s affiliated health plan program members would receive coverage for completing Dr Dean Ornish’s Program for Reversing Heart Disease.

In order to qualify as an Intensive Cardiac Rehabilitation Program (ICR), Dr. Ornish’s program had to meet the following requirements:

• It must be a physician-supervised program that furnishes cardiac rehabilitation services more frequently and often in a more rigorous manner than other such programs.

• An ICR program must show (in peer-reviewed published research) that it accomplished one or more of the following for its patients: 1) positively affected the progression of coronary heart disease; 2) reduced the need for coronary bypass surgery; and, 3) reduced the need for percutaneous coronary interventions.

• In addition, the program must show (also in peer-reviewed literature) that it accomplished a statistically significant reduction in 5 or more of the following measures for patients from their levels before cardiac rehabilitation services to after cardiac rehabilitation services:

1) low density lipoprotein;

2) triglycerides;

3) body mass index;

4) systolic blood pressure;

5) diastolic blood pressure; and

6) the need for cholesterol, blood pressure, and diabetes medications.

I recently attended an on-line webinar presented by Healthways and the UCLA Medical Center. UCLA has recently implemented Dr. Ornish’s program. UCLA is continuing with its traditional cardiac rehabilitation program, but it now gives patients, who are ready for complete lifestyle modification, the option of enrolling in its intensive cardiac rehabilitation program.

The UCLA ICR is a nine week program. Participants attend a four hour class for nine weeks. Currently classes consist of 10 people, but UCLA plans on increasing class size to 15 people once bigger space becomes available.

Most patients are referred by physicians from the UCLA health system. During the webinar, Program Medical Director Dr. Mark Grossman continually   emphasized the importance of physician support. The program already has a large waiting list even though UCLA has not advertised the program.

All 34 participants that began the program successfully graduated.  UCLA offers a maintenance program that is part of the traditional cardiac program.   Some graduates meet monthly on their own for continued peer support. 33 out of 34 were covered by insurance while one patient paid cash.

The program is currently staffed by:

• a medical director
• a program manager
• a registered nurse
• a registered dietitian
• a psychologist (p/t) (will be replaced by a SW)
• an exercise physiologist
• a yoga instructor and
• a program aide

Each class has an hour devoted to:

• exercise
• diet
• group support and
• stress management

Because the program is less than a year old, there is insufficient data to conduct a useful analysis. However, Dr. Grossman is excited that none of the 34 graduates has needed a hospital re-admittance. He shared a testimonial of one graduate, a cardiac bypass patient, who expressed that the program has given him a new lease on life. Dr. Grossman is gratified by this patient’s progress, but he added that he hopes the program will reach some people before they have to undergo such an extreme surgery.

Dr Grossman was also pleased to see great improvement in blood glucose control among the diabetics enrolled in the program. He mentioned that this type of improvement is not typically seen in the traditional cardiac rehabilitation program.

Dr. Grossman is hopeful and confident that the ICR will improve the health and life quality of participants in both the short and long term. In the process, health care costs will be lowered through fewer surgeries, medications and hospital stays – something our overburdened health care system desperately needs.

If heart disease (coronary artery disease) runs in your family, you owe it to yourself to learn more about the WFPB lifestyle.