Remote Patient Monitoring is getting a lot of attention during the Covid-19 pandemic.? As RPM programs ramp up across the country,? a common set of keys for success with remote patient monitoring deployment is emerging.
A recent article in the Harvard Business Review developed a comprehensive list of these keys for success with remote patient monitoring. This list validates many of the features that we feel are unique differentiators of the Remote Care Partners Solution.
The Definition of Telehealth and Remote Patient Monitoring
The term Telehealth refers to a broad list of health care activities that are conducted using telecommunications technology. Remote Patient Monitoring is a subset of telehealth. It refers specifically to the collection, transmission, evaluation, and communication of patient health data from electronic devices. Those devices are placed in the patients’ homes. Measurements are taken by the patient, without the supervision of a clinician.
Simplicity of Use
Any remote patient monitoring solution must be easy to use for patients, providers, clinicians, and staff. For the patients, this is a critical component. In a recent trial of 66 enrolled patients, 12 patients were unable to report data. These patients were unable to properly operate the mobile-phone-based monitoring device to begin data transmission.
The RCP SmartHub solves this issue. Measuring devices are shipped to the patient already paired with their SmartHub. The patient is not required to use an application. The SmartHub requires no set-up and does not use the patient?s internet or WiFi. They just plug it in and wait for the light to turn green.? They are then ready to start using the FDA approved, consumer-grade measuring devices that are supplied by their provider.
Reimbursement
Ensuring that the practice is properly reimbursed is another item to be added to the keys for success with remote patient monitoring. The reimbursement process for remote patient monitoring can often be challenging. There are a number of codes that cover device set-up, patient educations, collection of the data, reviewing the data, and additional clinical time spent with patient. They are all reimbursed separately.
The RCP platform can collect all of the reimbursable activities. The activity is then properly coded and submitted to the payer for maximum reimbursement. This service is provided to the practice as part of the base fee when using the RCP Platform.
Onboarding Patients
Clinicians already face significant amounts of administrative work in their daily workflows. Educating patients on the availability of these programs and getting them to sign-up is another item on our growing list of keys for success with remote patient monitoring. The tools for accomplishing these tasks should require as little time as possible from the clinicians. It should also be integrated into their existing workflows.
The RCP Fast Start program outsources much of this process. The practice provides RCP with patient contact information, demographics, and diagnoses for each patient. The list is then analyzed by RCP to match patients, conditions, and devices. RCP runs a multi-pronged approach to educate and enroll patients with no cost to the practice. This includes Direct Mail, Outbound Broadcast messages recorded by the provider, live-operator follow-up calls, and in-office information for the patients.
Financing
While the cost of operating a Remote Patient monitoring is reimbursable, there is little or no reimbursement available for the acquisition of the devices. In some cases, funding the capital required to get a program started may come from providers operating budgets or form some sort of grant.
RCP removes this burden by arranging for the financing of all required devices. In most cases, capital costs can be completely recovered from the operating revenue of the program within three months.
Remote Patient Montoring Works for Practices Of All Sized
The RCP Remote Patient Monitoring program is designed to be cash-flow positive from day one, even with a small roll-out. Eclectic Family Care of Eclectic, AL is seeing outstanding results with just 60 patients enrolled. The RCP Platform is intuitive and easy to use for clinicians and patients alike, which minimizes training expenses. Onboarding and reimbursement management can be outsourced to RCP at no cost to the practice. Available financing means no capital outlay for the practice.
About Remote Care Partners
Remote Care Partners, Inc. provides a cloud-based platform for population management and remote care program management. Functionality includes Remote Patient Monitoring, Chronic Care Management, Telemedicine, and the Virtual Medical Office that enables a medical practice to deliver all of these services even when the medical staff is working from home. RCP also provides patient enrollment services, revenue assurance, training, and other services to support the successful roll-out of any RCP Service. We believe that healthcare can greatly benefit from the advances in computing and network connectivity that link patients and care managers.
References: https://hbr-org.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/hbr.org/amp/2020/07/how-to-make-remote-monitoring-tech-part-of-everyday-health-care