Demystifying remote patient monitoring: What it is and why it matters to your practice

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Six in 10 Americans live with at least one chronic disease, and four in 10 have two or more, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To prevent complications for patients with conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and obesity, proactive and continuous care models are crucial. These models can also effectively lead to significant cost reductions.

Over the past decade, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have introduced care management programs like Chronic Care Management (CCM) and Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM), enabling providers to deliver more preventive care. These programs are gaining traction; in fact, the worldwide RPM market is estimated to reach $1.73 billion by 2027. Furthermore, approximately 115.5 million people globally are projected to participate in RPM by 2027, representing 1.4% of the world's population.

To provide a comprehensive understanding of RPM and its implementation in your practice, we present this three-part series covering the essentials:

• Part I: Demystifying RPM: What It Is and Why It Matters to Your Practice
• Part II: Integrating RPM into Your Workflow: A Practical Guide
• Part III: Navigating Reimbursement and Embracing the Future of RPM

Today, we begin with Part I: What is RPM?

Defining remote patient monitoring

RPM allows providers to monitor patients with various chronic diseases outside of traditional care settings using connected medical devices at home. These devices collect and transmit patient data, allowing providers to track key metrics and intervene when necessary. For instance, when patients use connected devices like blood pressure or continuous glucose monitors, the readings are transmitted to a centralized system for analysis.

The "why": Benefits for your patients and practice

Benefits for your patients

RPM has the potential to offer numerous benefits for patients, including improved chronic disease management, early detection and prevention, enhanced engagement, and increased accessibility. By having data in between traditional clinical visits, providers can identify trends, spot potential problems, and adjust treatment plans to help prevent complications for patients. For example, a partnership between Leon Medical Centers and Rimidi showed that 84% of patients with diabetes participating in an RPM program were able to improve their A1C to below 9%. This demonstrates the potential of RPM to positively impact chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes.

Participating in an RPM program often leads to patients becoming more engaged in their disease management. In rural or underserved areas, where patients face barriers to accessing healthcare, RPM allows them to receive more frequent and tailored care, without driving hours to their doctor’s office. This leads to 70% of patients believing that RPM enables better management of their health conditions. Furthermore, 90% found that remote monitoring supplements their in-person appointments, making them more valuable and sometimes (not always) even replacing the need for frequent visits.

This increased engagement is often driven by the patient's awareness that their doctor is monitoring them between visits, providing more frequent and personalized care.

Benefits for your practice

For practices, RPM can streamline workflows and enhance patient satisfaction while creating new revenue opportunities and providing data-driven insights for improved clinical decision-making. For instance, RPM can help identify patients requiring immediate attention, leading to more efficient resource allocation. Providers find that follow-up office visits are more focused given the availability of objective data from the patient’s home measurements. Engagement with clinical staff between visits often address prescription refills, medication adherence, and lifestyle questions, allowing the provider to focus on therapeutic adjustments or additional screenings. Proactive monitoring and timely interventions can also lead to greater patient satisfaction and stronger patient-provider relationships.

Additionally, as coverage for RPM grows across payers, providers are reimbursed more frequently, enabling practices to generate revenue and scale their programs. This increasing financial viability is significantly influenced by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which first introduced RPM codes in 2019, and has continually refined and expanded them, with the latest updates enabling Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Centers (RHCs) to bill for RPM.

Finally, the continuous flow of data can provide a more comprehensive understanding of a patient's health trends, leading to more informed treatment decisions.

A glimpse into the technology

Remote patient monitoring leverages various technologies to collect and transmit patient health data. These technologies generally fall into a few categories:

• Bluetooth devices: These devices pair with a patient's smartphone or a dedicated hub to transmit data.
  • Pros: Often cost-effective, widely available.
  • Cons: Requires the patient to have and be proficient with a smartphone or manage a separate hub; data transmission relies on the patient's connectivity.
• Cellular devices: These devices have embedded cellular connectivity, allowing patients to transmit data directly without needing a smartphone, app, or home internet connection.
  • Pros: Simplifies use for patients as no additional devices or technical skills are required, leading to increased patient engagement and reimbursement for the practice
  • Cons: May have a higher upfront cost compared to Bluetooth-only devices.
• Hubs/Kits: These often include a central hub that connects to various Bluetooth-enabled medical devices. The hub then transmits data via Wi-Fi or cellular connection.
  • Pros: Can support multiple devices for patients being monitored for multiple co-morbid conditions; centralizes data transmission for patients without smartphones.
  • Cons: Adds another piece of equipment for the patient to manage; multiple devices can be overwhelming to patients; reliance on the hub's connectivity.

Addressing initial concerns

While RPM has been around for a while, you may still have concerns about integrating this into your practice and patient care. Staffing capacity, data overload, integration, and patient compliance are top of mind. Rimidi, for example, integrates with EHR systems to create a single-sign on experience and comprehensive view of patient data, combining clinical data from the EHR with information from connected devices and patient-reported outcomes.

Conclusion

Remote patient monitoring represents a significant evolution in chronic disease management, offering substantial benefits for both patients and practices through improved care, enhanced engagement, and new revenue streams. The increasing support from payers, coupled with advancements in user-friendly technologies like cellular-enabled devices, makes RPM a more accessible and viable option than ever before.

The next article in this series will delve into the practical steps of integrating RPM into your clinical workflows.

Lucienne Ide, M.D., Ph.D., is Chief Executive Officer of Rimidi

Emily Jimenez is Director of Solution Sales at Henry Schein Medical