Carda Health, a leader in virtual cardiopulmonary care, has partnered with the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) to expand delivery of evidence-based lifestyle medicine and chronic disease care. As part of this partnership, Carda Health and ACLM will be promoting at-home cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation throughout the year. They will partner through educational initiatives, research opportunities, and clinician engagement.
Carda Health offers virtual cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation to people with cardiovascular and pulmonary disease. Its care model includes individual clinical support, live-monitored exercise and real-time vital sign monitoring. “This means that patients can access and complete rehabilitation programs from their own home.
In addition, the company’s approach addresses a number of barriers that often prevent patients from participating in traditional rehabilitation. Barriers to access include long travel distances, transportation challenges, work obligations and caregiving responsibilities. Carda Health is working to bring critical care to the patient by making it more accessible and convenient through bringing rehabilitation to the patient.
“Healthcare already knows how to treat many chronic conditions. The challenge is making proven care easier to access, complete and sustain,” said Harry DiFrancesco, CEO and Co-Founder of Carda Health. “ACLM has built a community focused on changing how we treat chronic disease. Together, we can bring proven care to more people.”
Partnership Focuses on Education, Research, and Clinical Engagement
Under the agreement, Carda Health and ACLM will develop educational programming, member resources, and potential joint research pilots. They will also explore demonstration projects to advance evidence-based lifestyle medicine and improve access to chronic disease care.
In addition, Carda Health will provide webinars, podcasts, and other educational tools to ACLM’s professional community, to which clinicians and other members will be able to turn to in their journey towards virtual rehabilitation. The two sides will also foster dialogue on the topic of patient access, adherence to treatments, and outcomes.
The partners will begin their first educational initiatives this fall. On November 4, Carda Health will host an ACLM-supported webinar titled “Rehab Reimagined: Virtual Care’s Impact on Access and Outcomes.”
The session will feature Dr. Dean Ornish, Haley Uher, Head of Clinical Exercise Physiology at Carda Health, and Julie Stebbins, Director of Outpatient Cardiology Services at WellStar Health System. Together, the speakers will discuss how virtual care can influence rehabilitation access and patient outcomes.
ACLM Partnership Aims to Expand Evidence-Based Care
Martin Tull, Chief Impact Officer at ACLM, highlighted the growing importance of accessible cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation. He noted that cardiovascular and other chronic diseases continue to affect individuals, families, and the broader healthcare system.
“Cardiovascular and other chronic diseases continue to place an enormous burden on individuals, families and our health care system, making access to effective cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation more important than ever,” said Martin Tull, Chief Impact Officer at ACLM. “Our partnership with Carda Health will help expand virtual access to the Ornish Program, an ACLM Lifestyle Medicine Certified Program, and bring evidence-based lifestyle medicine to more people who can benefit from it. Together, we have an opportunity to extend the reach and impact of intensive lifestyle change.”
Through this collaboration, Carda Health will help expand virtual access to the Ornish Program. The program is an ACLM Lifestyle Medicine Certified Program focused on intensive lifestyle change. Furthermore, the partnership aims to introduce evidence-based lifestyle medicine to more people who could benefit from structured care.
Carda Health to Participate in ACLM’s 2026 Lifestyle Medicine Conference
Carda Health will also participate in ACLM’s 2026 Lifestyle Medicine Conference, scheduled for November 8–11 in Orlando. During the event, Harry DiFrancesco and Dr. Dean Ornish will lead a session on November 9.
The session is titled “Undo It, At Home: How Virtual Care Is Taking Ornish’s Heart Disease Reversal Program to Everyone.” It will examine the clinical foundations of intensive cardiac rehabilitation and the role of virtual delivery in extending patient access.
In addition, the speakers will discuss rehabilitation completion rates, hospital readmissions, and cost per patient. The session will also include a walkthrough of an anonymized patient case. These discussions will highlight important considerations for delivering intensive cardiac rehabilitation through virtual care.
Building on an Existing Partnership in Cardiac Rehabilitation
The conference session builds on a national partnership announced earlier this year by Carda Health and Ornish Lifestyle Medicine. That collaboration delivers the Medicare-covered Intensive Cardiac Rehabilitation program to patients in their homes through Carda Health’s platform.
This means the enhanced collaboration with ACLM provides additional opportunities to share clinical knowledge, assist healthcare professionals and pursue new research initiatives. It also supports the partners’ commitment to improving access to cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation.
ACLM and Carda Health seek to expand the reach of evidence-based lifestyle medicine by integrating virtual delivery of healthcare with professional education and research. Together, they’ll work to help more patients get rehabilitation and sustain key lifestyle changes as they cope with chronic conditions.
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News Source: Businesswire.com
