The Remote Monitoring Leadership Council submitted testimony to the House Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Health hearing, “Health at Your Fingertips: Harnessing the Power of Digital Health Data.”
RPM is a flagship example of “Harnessing the Power of Digital Health Data.” By transmitting physiologic data from a patient’s home to a care team in near real time, RPM gives clinicians the actionable insights they need to intervene early, adjust treatment plans promptly, and prevent avoidable hospitalizations. RPM supports both chronic and acute conditions across short- and long-term episodes of care, and is also used in inpatient settings to assist with caring for patients in the hospital.
Data integrations are crucial to enabling effective care management through RPM. Rather than relying on periodic, arbitrary check-ins, RPM creates continuity of care through an ongoing line of communication that enables timely discussions and proactive outreach. The investment required to provide these services is the same across geographic areas even though RPM reimbursement is discounted in rural areas because it theoretically (not in reality) costs less to deliver care in rural areas.
The RMLC has encouraged CMS to modernize RPM coding to enable this digital health data revolution and we would welcome your support for this as it aligns with the committees’ priorities. We appreciate the leadership of Representative David Kustoff in introducing the Rural Patient Monitoring (RPM) Access Act (H.R. 3108), which takes an important step to ensure rural seniors are not left out of this life-saving health data innovation. Additionally, we appreciate Chairman Jason Smith’s support, who has emphasized that RPM helps providers coordinate quality care across different health settings.