By Mark Enrico, CEP, CCRP, FCSCR, FAACVPR | AACVPR director and board liaison to program certification | May 13, 2019
Published May 13, 2019

AACVPR volunteers are at the core of the organization. They sacrifice their time ensuring the mission statement of reducing cardiovascular and pulmonary disease through education, prevention, rehabilitation, research and disease management is met. Application reviewers are a unique subset of these volunteers and are the heart and soul of program certification. Each volunteer puts in several hours ensuring that the applications they review meet the strict standards that AACVPR has set to become a certified program.

There are many benefits of being an application reviewer. One benefit is keeping up with the current certification requirements and changes. For example, reviewers are well versed in the new performance measures introduced in 2018. They know the specific details of each measure, what the appropriate measuring tools are and what data should be included or excluded. Because program certification is aligned with CMS guidelines, they also become very familiar with current Medicare rules and regulations. 

Another benefit of becoming a program certification reviewer is the ability to gain insight and ideas to bring to your own program. Reviewers come across all different types of ITPs, policies, procedures, and staff competencies throughout the nation. They discover things that would or wouldn’t work in their own programs. They also have several opportunities to network with other reviewers to bounce ideas off of each other.   

Depending on the number of applications and experience, each reviewer will be assigned anywhere from 10-20 applications. Each February all reviewers go through a formal training period consisting of phone calls, webinars and videos to ensure they are familiar with the current application. During the initial review phase of March-May, there are weekly webinars designed to help with questions or issues on applications. After the initial review period is closed, all reviewers are invited to participate in the remediation phase for those programs that did not pass their initial review.

Program certification reviewers are some of the most dedicated AACVPR volunteers. They are well-rounded and knowledgeable colleagues because of their exposure to guidelines, policies, procedures and best practices. There are currently 44 application reviewers representing 26 states.

The ultimate goal is to have at least one reviewer in each state. The search for new reviewers begins in October through November and reviewer agreements are sent out in December through January. If you are interested in becoming a program certification reviewer please email: certification@aacvpr.org. We would love to have you aboard!