Types of Telehealth: Modalities
Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) is the use of a connected electronic tool to record personal health and medical data in one location for review by a provider another location, usually at a different time. This practice helps in reducing costs for healthcare delivery and increases convenience for both the patient and medical provider.
Providers nave the aDIIuy to montor parents tn any tocauon When using this platform. Patients can obtain physiotogrcat data at their homes using RPM technologies that are prescribed or sold over the counter. RPM solutions offer additional support for patients between office visits. while having access to their provider for intervention as needed. Preventive Measure Against COVID-19 Remote medical services can mitigate COVID-19 infections through remote triage services. Additionally. remote triage helps providers screen patients which can manage physician shortages and patient congestion. The FDA has released guidelines on permitting businesses to distribute medical devices to patients’ homes. (https://www.fda.gov/media/8 0958/download)
RPM promotes patient centricity as it focuses on increasing the patient experience and can be a conduit of engagement with the provider. For example, wearable devices collect patient data and in response to collected information, can provide notifications and/or guidance which may help manage patient health. CDC has documented that interactive content, such as engagement between providers and patients, is a component of telehealth that has “been shown to be effective.” (https://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/pubs/telehealth. htm)
Patients and providers can check, change and/or update health information on their own schedule. Patients can update their data remotely and providers can check updated information when convenient or when it fits into their workflow.
With any emerging technology or service modality, challenges are inevitable. However, there are solutions to overcome these challenges.
One of the major challenges of RPM is data security (Jiang & Shi, 2021 https://pubmed.ncbi. nlm.nih.gov/3362 8404/). The healthcare facility may have proper cybersecurity protocols and procedures in place to handle the risk; a patient’s home is another matter. The telehealth platform provider is the middle ground and should provide the appropriate security and risk management tools between the two parties.
Data accuracy is a complex challenge when integrating RPM into a telehealth program. User error can produce inaccurate data. It is important to develop quality assurance guidelines and provide training for everyone involved when using a remote patient monitoring platform. (https://www.ncbi.nlm. nih.gov/pmc/articles/ PMC6993998/)
Remote Patient Monitoring is one of the more impactful health platforms of all of the evolving technologies and a study found that 4 out of 5 Americans are in favor of RPM (https://www.msimsi.com/msi-remote-monitoring-study-pr/)
Challenges are found in every platform. program, and new technology: however, RPM’s cost-savings to patients and giving health care provide rs valuable tools to diagnose and treat patients outweigh the obstacles.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has recognized the benefits of RPM and created new codes that reimburse providers who offer remote monitoring. Some of the se new codes allow clinical staft to provide monitoring and care, freeing up time for physiclans. https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/final-policy-payment-and-quality-provisions-changes-medicare- physician-fee-schedule-calendar-year-1
Qualified providers may bill Medicare for RPM evaluation and management services which include:
Examples of North Carolina (NC) sites using RPM include:
