September 23, 2026
The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has completed enrollment of the MCNAIR study, a multi-center randomized study comparing in-person cardiac rehabilitation to telehealth cardiac rehabilitation in 518 adults with heart conditions. The primary results about the impact on exercise capacity after 1 year will be available in early 2028. The study was funded by the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)* and conducted in collaboration with researchers from University of Michigan, University of Pittsburgh, Johns Hopkins University, Denver Health, Mayo Clinic, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
The MCNAIR study is the largest clinical trial of cardiac rehabilitation in the US in decades. Results from this study will help people decide whether to participate in cardiac rehabilitation in person at a facility or primarily via telehealth.
“Only 1 in 3 people who are eligible for cardiac rehabilitation attend even 1 session. If patients have more options and support for how to participate, it may increase access to cardiac rehabilitation,” according to Dr. Alexis Beatty, Principal Investigator of the MCNAIR study and a Professor of Epidemiology & Biostatistics and Medicine at UCSF. “We are very grateful to the patients and families who participated in this study. Their contributions will help people with heart conditions live longer, stay out of the hospital, and feel better.”
The study was named “MCNAIR” after consulting with an advisory board of cardiac rehabilitation patients and caregivers. The advisory board chose to name the study after one of the advisory board members. “I agreed to allow the study to use my name to represent all of the women and people of color who don’t have access to cardiac rehab,” says Dr. Patricia McNair, one of the patient leaders of the study. The MCNAIR study recruited over 30% women across all racial and ethnic groups, and 37% men and women from historically under-represented groups. This is greater than the average of about 19% women and 13-16% of Black, Hispanic, and Asian Pacific Islanders who attend cardiac rehab generally1.
Cardiac rehabilitation is strongly recommended by American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology guidelines and considered standard of care for many heart conditions. In early 2026, federal legislation allowed Medicare to cover cardiac rehabilitation delivered by video visit, as in the study. However, the legislation will expire in 2028, unless Congress acts to extend coverage of telehealth cardiac rehabilitation. We hope that results from this study will support permanent Medicare coverage of telehealth cardiac rehabilitation.
* All statements are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), its Board of Governors or Methodology Committee.
1 Ritchey MD, Maresh S, McNeely J, et al. Tracking Cardiac Rehabilitation Participation and Completion Among Medicare Beneficiaries to Inform the Efforts of a National Initiative. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2020;13(1):e005902. doi:10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.119.005902