Jumping into remote patient monitoring

When the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services began reimbursing providers for remote patient monitoring (RPM) services in 2018, the health care community’s response at the outset was less than underwhelming. Then came the boon in telehealth utilization prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which after the initial spike in Q2 2020 stabilized in early 2021 at a level 38 times higher than it was before the pandemic, with 13 to 17 percent of office and outpatient visits taking place via telehealth. But “despite the broad adoption of telehealth,” according to a report by the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), “RPM is one component of telehealth that has lagged.” Even though RPM’s use increases steadily each year, MGMA’s Stat poll of 586 healthcare leaders taken in June still found that 75% of medical practices have yet to offer it.