NoVa: Remote Patient Monitoring(RPM) Solutions

In-Home Remote Patient Monitoring Ready to Take Off

It’s going to be another good year for telemedicine―perhaps the best yet.Momentum has been building for the increased acceptance of telemedicine in the hospital setting. It’s the result of several factors, most importantly the increasing shortage of physicians available to staff hospitals and provide specialized care. The telemedicine industry’s growth continues rapidly despite the widespread confusion over reimbursement for telemed services from state to state. Why? Because most hospital leaders recognize that they face far more significant costs from the lack of proper physician and specialist coverage than from a less-than-optimal reimbursement rate for telehealth. As micro-hospitals and long-term acute care hospitals (LTACHs) grow, they are looking for single-source providers of solutions, with one point of contact, one operating system, and one set of tools and processes. Telemedicine fits their models very well, helping them avoid contracting with a wide array of specialists to meet their patients’ needs. It’s another great opportunity for telemedicine and for Eagle, and we expect continued growth in these new segments through 2020.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has locked in a rule that will allow home health agencies to report the cost of remote patient monitoring for reimbursement under Medicare. According to the announcement, released yesterday, this rule will be implemented in 2020.“Today’s rule overhauls how Medicare pays for home health, refocusing on the needs of patients, promoting innovation, and reducing burden for physicians and home health providers,” CMS Administrator Seema Verma said in the announcement.

Growth will continue in metropolitan hospitals

Rural hospitals have long been a sweet spot for telemedicine. Recently, however, more metropolitan hospitals have seen the advantage of telemedicine in two key areas. When cross-coverage calls are handled by telemedicine teams, it takes the burden of floor call off night hospitalists who may already be overwhelmed with admissions. By the same token, telemedicine offers “surge protection,” providing assistance with patient admissions during ED bottlenecks, and cost-effective relief from hospitalist overload. In 2018, we expect to see an increasing number of metropolitan hospitals incorporating telemedicine into their clinical teams.