Frequently Asked Questions
Submit your questions:
What is the cost of TACVPR membership?
Membership dues are $45 each year. There is an early bird discount from Jan 1st-Feb 15th reducing dues to $35. After February 15th dues increase to $45.
How long is my membership good for?
Membership is good from January through December each year.
How do I serve on a TACVPR Committee? Do I have to be a Board Member?
You do not have to be a board member to serve on one of the TACVPR Committees. If you are interested in helping out with the communication committee, conference committee or just want to become more involved please contact us at
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Our cardiac rehab department is currently under review and administration is questioning the need for policies specific to cardiac rehab. Do you know what policies should be specific to cardiac rehab and what policies could be included under the hospital umbrella? Before I start retiring policies I would like to know what ones are required by AACVPR and TACVPR. We are currently accredited by the AACVPR.
We believe the AACVPR’s focus on department specific policies speaks to the fact that, for example, a medical emergency may have a different policy in the outpatient rehab department than in the general hospital. We recommend you contact AACVPR directly for mare clarification in this area.
What is the current staff to patient ratio for Phase II Cardiac Rehab? 1:5
When Phase II is active, must there be a nurse during all patient care?
No, the staffing criterion indicates that the program is staffed by “personnel necessary to conduct the program safely and effectively and who are trained in both basic and advanced life support techniques and in exercise therapy for coronary disease. When conducted in a hospital, an identified physician must be immediately available. This does not require that a physician be physically present in the exercise room itself but must be immediately available and accessible at all times in case of an emergency.” Therefore the staff may consist of a variety of competent allied healthcare professionals.
Are you allowed to bill for a 6 min walk on non-COPD patients or just using the G code?
The current LCD for Trailblazer’s limits CPT codes to G0237, G0238 and G0239. This would be a good topic to discuss with your hospital’s compliance officer.
We just received a referral for a gentleman whose FEV1 meets the requirement, but not the FEV1/FVC for COPD. His PFT shows that all of his Non-COPD parameters are less than 60% predicted. His order states that he has COPD. It turns out that he has asthma also and we will be able to get an order for obstructive asthma or the doctor can list him as 492.8 (other emphysema). Could we use this with the non-COPD codes?
You can use the Respiratory Therapy LCD for this patient as he does meet the requirements of having an FEV1 less than 60% with a diagnosis of emphysema (which is a listed diagnosis under this LCD as well). We’d also recommend discussing with your compliance officer.
Program Certification questions?
We’ll defer to the AACVPR Certification Application Resource Page.