Thursday, December 23, 2021
Teresa Sieck

By enabling real-time and responsive connections between patient and provider, remote patient monitoring (RPM) is shaping the future of primary care. Indeed, it is one of healthcare’s most rapidly evolving sectors, with pundits estimating the industry to be worth $117 billion in just under five years. Its application and value are nearly limitless. RPM has the potential to expand access to critical healthcare for aging and rural populations, help mitigate costs associated with chronic disease management, and build stronger patient-provider relationships for long-term care and greater overall well-being.

While the benefits of RPM are often discussed, tactical questions around implementation are too often glossed over. In this blog, we will address the top five most common questions we receive from providers, practices, and health systems interested in implementing RPM for their organization. 

Question 1: How much does RPM cost?

Upfront costs are quite minimal. Broadly speaking, RPM pays for itself within just one month. The minor implementation and service fees are immediately covered within that first month by reducing costs of care for chronic disease management and via approved RPM reimbursements (which we will outline below, in Question 4). Beyond that, ROI is often achieved within the first three months. In fact, most of our partners make a profit starting with the first patient in the first month the platform is turned on. 

Question 2: How to accelerate patient and provider buy-in for RPM?

The applications for RPM are so wide-ranging, we recommend outlining applications and benefits for the broadest range of stakeholders:

For patients: Patients – especially those living with a chronic disease, such as diabetes, hypertension, atrial fibrillation, anticoagulation, pain management, chronic pulmonary disease, asthma, among others – benefit greatly from the increased access to care that RPM promises. 

RPM’s real-time monitoring program minimizes the burden of managing a chronic condition in the day-to-day. Paired with bluetooth-enabled trackers, RPM helps improve health outcomes, lower management costs, and improve daily quality of life by reducing the need for routine in-person visits. When needed, interventions and remote conversations offer opportunities to avoid costly in-person treatment or emergency care, and provide regular lifestyle adjustments that can make a big impact on everyday health.  

For providers: For busy clinicians, RPM enables an extension of their services so they can continue to monitor patients with chronic conditions and provide quality remote care. RPM services, such as WebCareHealth’s, provide full-service nursing and support staff to monitor patient data 24/7 and trigger interventions when medically necessary. With newfound in-patient flexibility, providers can begin to prioritize their in-patient visits for complicated or emergency cases that require urgent attention. 

For systems: By strengthening the provider-patient connection and reducing the need for recurring chronic condition appointments, systems with RPM help reduce provider burnout. Additional monitoring helps reduce the need for costly readmissions and emergency services, especially important for organizations involved in risk-sharing or value-based care arrangements. WebCareHealth’s RPM system automatically identifies and shares billable events with hospital or system billing teams to streamline claim management and help ensure positive ROI within the first few months. 

Question 3: How does RPM integrate into clinical workflows?

RPM seamlessly integrates with your organization’s workflow to identify efficiencies, extend clinical capacity, mitigate costs, and streamline billing and claims cycles. WebCareHealth’s 360° service improves every aspect of management, including: 

Implementation: Our team conducts full onboarding and training for providers, staff, and enrollment support for patients

Frictionless data ingestion:  The platform automatically ingests all remotely generated patient health data

Seamless EHR integration: The data is seamlessly integrated with any EHR system to ensure integrity of the patient record, and that all data is available for clinical review

24/7 support: Our platform includes a fully licensed nursing staff that acts as an extension of your team by actively monitoring incoming readings and data and providing real-time care plan optimizations

Billing optimizations: The platform features an automated billable event tracker, which immediately sends all coded claims to the billing team 

Question 4: How am I reimbursed for RPM services?

Remote patient monitoring helps facilitate reimbursement for billable events by automatically capturing claims codes and sharing with relevant finance teams. It helps identify additional revenue opportunities without requiring any additional provider or front-office staff bandwidth. These new streams include recurring monthly monitoring services for patients with chronic conditions and anticoagulation needs. 

WebCareHealth has identified a set of claims codes for billing that are automatically applied to ensure all potential revenue opportunities are explored. Often, reduction in readmissions and emergency services, along with streamlined billing and claims cycles ensure that RPM costs are covered – and ROI is achieved – within the first few months of partnership. If you have questions specifically about how RPM can help unlock recurring revenue streams and streamline claims management for your billing team, please reach out to our team today. 

Question 5: How does RPM impact my clinical and financial outcomes?

RPM helps practices and health systems alike identify opportunities to expand their service capabilities, while prioritizing valuable in-patient visits for patients with urgent critical needs or other highly billable events that support your system’s strategic goals. The full-service system supports all aspects of care management, from providing care to processing claims, by: 

Expanding the clinical staff’s capacity for care

Streamlining claims processing and billing cycles

Automating data collection for streamlined ingestion within your EHR 

Supporting recurring chronic disease management visits 

Providing a 24/7 fully licensed nursing staff who monitors incoming data and intervenes when necessary

Reducing the need for costly readmissions or emergency care

Deepens the provider-patient connection and long-term system loyalty

Improves overall quality of life for patient populations living with chronic disease

Identifies opportunities for lifestyle changes that improve long-term patient health and improve outcomes

Founded and run by leaders with decades of clinical care experience, WebCareHealth understands the specific pain points and needs of healthcare organizations, from nursing staff, to physicians, office managers, population health leaders, and more. From freeing on-premise staff bandwidth to improve patient care, support ongoing quality care standards, identify cost savings, reduce readmissions, and manage overall population wellness, remote patient monitoring can support your goals. 

If you have any questions about RPM, or would like to learn more about how RPM can help solve pain points and support your organization’s strategic goals, reach out to speak with a member of our team today.