Geisinger delivers virtual cardiac rehabilitation within correctional facilities with Aviary Health

Geisinger Heart & Vascular Institute and Aviary Health are breaking down one of healthcare’s most overlooked access barriers — delivering evidence-based care to incarcerated individuals who have a constitutional right to adequate medical care, but for whom traditional care has remained difficult to access.

For incarcerated patients in Pennsylvania, completing a standard 36-session cardiac rehab program isn’t just logistically difficult — it’s virtually impossible. Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death in US correctional facilities, accounting for roughly 1 in 3 in-custody deaths. By delivering monitored exercise, nutrition counseling, and stress reduction classes virtually, Geisinger and Aviary Health eliminated those barriers to care entirely. In a published case study (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41746-026-02434-7), a 67-year-old incarcerated patient who completed the program following a cardiac intervention demonstrated a 21% improvement in the two-minute step test and an 88% improvement in the 30-second chair stand test — objective evidence that virtual CR can deliver the full clinical benefit of traditional programs even in the most constrained environments. A large health system in the Northeast implemented an AACVPR best practice — automated opt-out cardiac rehab referrals at discharge — across their hospital system to ensure that no eligible patient ever slipped through the cracks on their way to recovery.