Thousands of Veterans face the everyday challenges that come with having a serious heart or lung condition. For Veterans who live in rural communities, there are additional barriers to accessing needed rehabilitation care, including lack of availability, long travel distances, and cost. Since 2010, VA’s Office of Rural Health (ORH) has worked to eliminate these barriers by using VA Telehealth tools and services as part of 2 Home-Based Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation programs.

Over the past decade, VA’s Home-based Cardiac Program has enrolled more than 8,600 Veterans and has expanded to 37 VA facilities across the country. Its success led to the launch of the Home-Based Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program in 2018. To date, the pulmonary program has supported more than 4,400 Veterans and is available at 35 VA sites of care nationwide.

Watch this video and read this VA News article to learn more about these home-based telehealth programs.