Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM): How to Implement your Program

Kaustubh Narkhede
March 7, 2024
3:23 pm
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Did you know almost 80% of Americans are in favor of using Remote Patient Monitoring?

Yes, according to MSI international, four in every five Americans are inclined towards using remote patient monitoring as a part of their medical care. Furthermore, a Harvard Health Letter stated that there are almost 50 million users of remote patient monitoring.

50 million is a huge number, and with RPM program evaluation expected to reach $41.7 billion by 2028, it would be logical for your healthcare practice to start your own remote patient monitoring program.

But can you start the program with just remote patient monitoring software?

Well, NO!

Any healthcare program development in the digital landscape requires healthcare technology integration, which makes the process difficult. However, remote patient monitoring has become extremely popular and offers lucrative benefits to healthcare providers by lowering their burden.

So, if you are looking for a way to start your RPM program, then this blog is for you!

Read this guide to remote patient monitoring implementation steps and build your ideal remote patient monitoring solution.

Step I - Planning & Preparation

For a better understanding of the remote patient monitoring implementation steps, let’s divide the steps into three parts; planning, implementation, and monitoring. Starting with the first step of planning and preparing, let’s get started:

1. Define Your Target Patient Population

Before anything, the very first thing that you need to do is recognize why you want to start the RPM program. Since RPM has various applications, define what specific healthcare services you want to serve through RPM. Usually, RPM is used for chronic disease management, post-surgical monitoring, mental health monitoring, etc. Depending on that, define your target patient population and leverage your EMR software to identify and enroll the patients.

2. Selecting the Right RPM Technology

Once you have decided on the services you want to provide with RPM, it’s time for healthcare technology integration to lay the foundation of your RPM program. Start with choosing the right remote patient monitoring devices. Here, it is important to consider factors like device compatibility, data security, user-friendly UI/UX, and, most importantly, interoperability with existing systems.

3. Develop a Communication Plan

To start providing RPM services, ’Patient Consent’ is essential, as directed by the CMS. Outline a plan and effectively communicate with your patients, explaining to them the benefits, expectations, and data privacy measures to safeguard their information.

4. Establish Clinical Workflow

RPM implementation challenges usually involve data; it is important to define the clinical workflow of your practice based on the data. Since every healthcare practice has a unique workflow, define how the data will be collected and monitored to identify trends and how the care team will intervene with appropriate data-backed decisions to improve patient health outcomes.

5. Interpretation & Patient Support

While you will be focusing on patient engagement strategies once you onboard the patients, you first need to make your healthcare staff compatible with the remote patient monitoring software. And the best way to do that is by developing robust training programs for providers to interpret RPM data and provide the required services accordingly. Along with that, conduct ongoing training sessions to address the evolving needs as you continue to use remote patient monitoring software.

Step II - Implementation

Here are the remote patient monitoring implementation steps that you should follow for the successful implementation of your program:

1. Enroll Patients

The very step when you start any healthcare program is to enroll patients before providing them the services. Here, you need to set patient engagement strategies, starting with explaining the RPM program to them and addressing their concerns. However, to successfully enroll the patients, you need to get their consent. This consent could either be in writing or verbal to enroll the patient for your remote patient monitoring program.

2. Equip Patients with Devices & Training

Once the patients are enrolled, you need to assign them the necessary RPM devices for them to monitor their health vitals. At this stage, you need to understand that not everyone is technology-friendly, and patients would require training on the usage of devices.

3. Connect Devices & Integrate Data

After assigning the RPM devices to the patients, you need to connect the devices with your clinical system. Once the devices are connected to your system, ensure that the data flows as per the workflow and the devices are able to collect data smoothly and transmit it to the system.

4. Monitor Patient Data & Intervene

By successfully integrating data with your chosen platform, you will have developed an ecosystem for remote monitoring. After this, your care team needs to regularly review patient data, identify health trends, and intervene in the care delivery wherever required depending on the readings and deviations.

5. Billing, Coding & Reimbursement

Once you’ve provided the healthcare services to your patient population, it is time to bill. For this, you need to deploy a billing and coding strategy for remote patient monitoring services that aligns with your clinical workflow. While developing this plan, ensure that your remote patient monitoring software is compliant and adheres to the reimbursement policies and regulations. Along with that, to maximize revenue, you need to implement efficient billing processes and improve the accuracy of your billing and coding.

Step III - Maintaining & Optimizing Your Program

With the first submission of your claim, you will have successfully implemented your remote patient monitoring program. However, this is where the hard part starts, which is to keep the program running and scaling it as your practice grows.

1. Gather Patient Feedback

The goal of your RPM program is to amplify your traditional healthcare practice with patient care improvement. For this, it is important for you to gather crucial patient feedback about their experience with the program. Conduct surveys with your targeted group, which will give you eccentric feedback for patient care improvement with your remote monitoring program.

2. Track Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

During the process, you also need to check how your remote patient monitoring program is performing. For your RPM program evaluation, track key performance indicators like patient engagement, hospital readmission rates, and medication adherence. This will provide you with deeper insights about the program, which will help you scale and optimize your program to its maximum use.

3. Continuously Refine Your Program

Based on the feedback from the surveys and deep analysis of KPIs, check the effectiveness of your program, identify and address the challenges, and cater to the patient needs to make your remote patient monitoring solution effective in its use.

Conclusion

Successful implementation of your RPM program defines its success. With this guide, you can easily navigate through the different aspects of your program and successfully implement them in your practice.

Furthermore, as healthcare continues to move towards a digitalized landscape, it is wise to be prepared for the future. Also, future innovation and adoption will enhance the healthcare practice and lower the overall cost of healthcare.

Along with that, being a factor that drives patient-centric and data-driven care, the importance of RPM in healthcare will surely increase with time. With this, prepare better for the future and drive positive patient outcomes with your own RPM program.

Frequently Asked Question’s

1. What are the first steps to implementing an RPM program?

Here are remote patient monitoring implementation steps:

Determine your clinical goals
Integrate RPM with EMR and Telehealth Platforms
Set up a care team for the RPM program
Integrate Remote Patient Monitoring Software with your practice
Define data workflow and integrate with EHR
Monitor health conditions and deliver

2. What technology and resources are needed for RPM?

Wearable devices, mobile apps, remote patient monitoring software, telehealth platforms, and educational resources are needed to successfully implement remote patient monitoring.

3. How can I ensure data security and patient privacy in an RPM program?

To ensure data security in your Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) program, it is important to select reliable, FDA-approved devices and platforms with strong encryption. Additionally, implement access controls, conduct regular security audits, and prioritize clear communication with patients about data usage and privacy.

4. What are the key regulatory considerations for RPM implementation?

Implementing Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) requires ensuring data security under HIPAA and avoiding fraud through compliance with Anti-Kickback and Stark Laws. Additionally, understand billing codes and their requirements.

5. How do I train staff and educate patients on using RPM?

Providing hands-on extensive training on remote patient monitoring software is one of the best practices for training medical staff. Whereas to educate patients by providing a user manual or a guide to using RPM software and devices.

6. How can I measure the success and impact of my RPM program?

The effectiveness of the RPM program can be measured by tracking metrics aligned with your goals (health outcomes, patient engagement, etc.). Monitor data (reduced hospitalizations, patient satisfaction surveys) and compare it to baselines to assess progress and identify areas for improvement.

7. How can RPM technology improve patient engagement and outcomes?

Remote patient monitoring software keeps patients involved by allowing them to monitor their health data at home. This empowers them to manage their conditions, leading to better adherence to treatment plans and earlier detection of potential issues, ultimately improving health outcomes.

8. What are some common challenges in scaling up an RPM program?

Scaling up RPM (Revenue Performance Management) programs can be tricky. Challenges include: