About the Authors

David A. Alter

david.alter@ices.on.ca

Affiliations The Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, The Cardiac Rehabilitation and Secondary Prevention Program, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, The Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michaels’ Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Barry Franklin

Affiliation Cardiac Rehabilitation and Exercise Laboratories, William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Michigan, United States of America

Dennis T. Ko

Affiliations The Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, The Schulich Heart Centre and the Clinical Epidemiology Unit of Sunnybrook Health Science Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Peter C. Austin

Affiliations The Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Douglas S. Lee

Affiliations The Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Paul I. Oh

Affiliation The Cardiac Rehabilitation and Secondary Prevention Program, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Therese A. Stukel

Affiliations The Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Jack V. Tu

Affiliations The Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, The Schulich Heart Centre and the Clinical Epidemiology Unit of Sunnybrook Health Science Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Competing Interests

Dr. Alter received an honorarium from Forest Laboratories Canada for attending one advisory board meeting, and an honorarium from Boehringer-Ingelheim Canada for speaking at one CME event. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: DA. Performed the experiments: DA. Analyzed the data: DA. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: DA. Wrote the paper: DA. Contributed to critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: DA BF DK PA DL PO TS JT.