How to Implement a Remote Patient Monitoring Program?

What Do I Need to Know to Start a Remote Patient Monitoring Program?

To launch an RPM program, you need 6 steps:

 1) Identifying goals (revenue/cost savings), 

 2) Identifying high-risk patients (CHF, diabetes, COPD), 

 3) Choosing FDA-approved technology 

 4) Training clinical staff,

 5) Pilot 50-100 patients,

 6) Track outcomes and expand. 

Period: 3-4 months in between planning to launch.

ROI that is usually attained within 6 months.

Remote Patient Monitoring is no longer a thing of the future but rather a part of healthcare requirements. Medicare reimbursement of up to $104-$185 per patient/month combined with proven clinical outcomes has healthcare providers in a rush to implement successful RPM programs. Nevertheless, a non-planned launch usually fails to effectively engage the patients, make them cooperative and achieve its economical effectiveness.

This serves as a step-by-step guide that takes you though each important step so that you can prevent the most obvious mistakes and so that your program is a success right at the start.

Step 1: Identify Goals Your RPM Program

Set organizational goals and objectives before investing in technology or hiring human resource as this will give you a clear picture on the success of your organization. Are you just focused on generating new revenue streams, or minimizing costly readmission, or improving new quality metrics for the value-based contract?

Revenue generation Priorities: The priorities of the revenue generation are direct billing via CPT codes 99453-99458, which will achieve our goal of a minimum of 50,000 to maximum 150,000 dollars per month within one year. Monitor monthly billing volumes, collection percentages and patient enrolment.

Cost Reduction Strategy: High focus on high-utilization patients to prevent high cost emergency & readmission. Success measures are 20-30 percent less unplanned hospitalizations and less per patient expense.

Quality Improvement Goals: To improve chronic disease management by taking medication (focus) and implementation of early intervention. Monitoring of HbA1c levels in diabetic patients, blood pressure in hypertensive patients and patient satisfaction rating.

Set realistic time line expectations: most effective programs make back the costs in the first 6-9 months and complete full program maturity in 12- 18 months. Have quarterly milestones in order to keep up the pace and alter strategies accordingly.

Step 2: Smart Patient Selection

Your RPM program can only be successful when you enroll the right patients. Target chronic conditions with definite parameters of monitoring and high rates of utilization of medical services.

Target Conditions: CHF patients present the greatest ROI potential because CHF patients average cost savings of between $8,000-$12,000 per patient per year. Glucose and weight monitoring of diabetic patients and pulse oximetry and symptoms monitoring of patients with COPD are some examples of the benefits. Daily health monitoring of blood pressure helps in preventing cardiovascular events in the management of hypertension.

Risk Stratification Criteria: those who have had recent hospitalization, two or more chronic conditions, or not been adherent to medications. High-risk group- Patients who have 2+ emergency department visits per year, lots of specialist contacts or had been recently discharged within 30 days.

Ideal Pilot Size: 50-100 well handpicked patients to test the workflows and technology integration. This dimension is sufficient to collect significant data and yet does not prove to be too complex. Do not rush into hundreds of patients--successful pilots are quality, not quantity.

Screen potential patients' inclination to technology comfort and access to the reliable internet. Patients under the caregiving environment can also be classified as the ideal patient to complete the pilot, since they are very engaged compared to those without.

Step 3: Selection of Technologies to Use

Finding the proper long-term technology partner is the key to your program success. Consider vendors with respect to functionality of clinical, integration, and support services, in addition to price.

Not Negotiable: FDA-approved equipment will make an organization eligible to get reimbursement by Medicare and adequate treatment accuracy. HIPAA-compliant platforms ensure the security of data related to patients and prevent expensive breaches. There is seamless integration of EHR to avoid duplicate multiple entries generated.

Portfolio Evaluation: The leading products are blood pressure monitors, digital scales, pulse oximeters and glucometers that serve as the core of majority of programs. EEG, spirometer, and medication compliance sensors are optional additional devices. Select equipment that is both easy to use by patients and has steady cellular/WiFi coverage.

Vendor Support Quality: Research the existence of in-depth training, 24/7 support and customer success managers. The vendors are expected to have replacement devices programs, patient boards, and clinical hierarchy guidance.

Request Demo pilots with 2-3 vendors to test the real world capabilities prior to making final decisions. Involve clinical staffing in evaluation processes so that technology will integrate with current workflows.

Step 4: Clinical workflow design and integration

Workflow design provides clinical efficiencies in monitoring without burdening clinical staff. Development of protocols that take advantage of automation, but continue to personalize patient care.

Daily Observation Procedures: This should involve the stipulation of time schedules of reading data, and monitoring nocturnal data in the early morning time. Establish a set of labels, color-coding red as a high-priority, identifying alerts that are to be attended by a physician; yellow is a nurse-followed message; and green is a standard message that should be monitored and ignored.

Set Response Procedures- Specify periods of response High priority alerts to respond in two hours, moderate in the same day and trends within 24 hours. Ensure consolidation of escalation pathways so that the concerns of the patient do not slip between cracks

Staffing Role Reorganization: The typical task of HF patients monitoring should be performed by nurses and medical assistants, leaving physicians to do clinical decision-making. A single nurse can take care of 75-100 patients with the appropriate automation assistance. Care coordinators perform the work of educating patients and engaging them.

Provide documentation templates that reduce compliance with billing and at the same time capturing the necessary clinical information. The consistency created by using standard workflows lowers training time and improves staff uniformity.

Step 5: A General Trainee Scheme

Invest a lot in staff education so as to have program success. Poor training results in improper documentation and billing mistakes as well as dissatisfied staff members.

Platform Training Requirements: Give practical experience with patient devices as well as the dashboards to navigate and the alerts to manage. The issues that are avoided should be mastered by the staff to fix the problem of devices that is assisting patients remotely. Commit 8-10 hours of initial training on the platform with continually refreshed training.

Clinical Protocol Education: Educate staff about condition-specific parameters to be monitored in indicator, intervention thresholds, and methods used to communicate with patients. Role-plays are also used to give employees an opportunity to rehearse patient interviews and emergency procedures.

Billing and Documentation Mastery: Ensure the staff are proficient in terms of CPT code practice, time record keeping requirements, and documentation that protects against audits. Lack of billing compliance leads to huge losses in revenue and even fines.

You can easily meet the team once a week during the first month to discuss the problems and streamline the procedures with the actual experience.

Step 6: the Successful Launch, Monitoring and Scaling

Go into pilot mode with close consideration to patient experience and clinical outcomes. Rapid one with early feedback can help avoid very significant problems after full deployment.

Pilot Program Management: Bring on board 10-15 patients per week so as to ensure the growth is manageable as systems are tested. Watch and track patient engagement rates to get 80 percent or more daily patient data transmitted. Any technology concerns should be addressed as soon as possible to avoid aggravating the patients.

Key Metrics to Measure: Measure clinical outcomes (blood pressure control, weight management, adherence to medications), financial performance (revenue and cost reduction), and efficiency (staff productivity and satisfaction, patient satisfaction).

Scaling Decision Framework: Increase the number of patients when they continue to reach steady-state 85 percent+ engagement and deliver clinical outcomes. Growth should be gradual--doubling enrollment every 6-8 weeks makes it possible to maintain quality and create sustainable growth.

Your RPM Implementation Schedule

Month 1: Selection of goals and vendors as well as staff recruitment

Month 2: Integrating technology, work flow design and training staff

Month 3: Launch of pilot with 50 patients

Months 4-6: Continue/observe performance, optimize procedures, and start scaling

The vast majority of the most successful programs are reaching positive ROI during month 6, and only a year after the program will have achieved full maturity.

Start your RPM Journey Now

RPM has the potential to revolutionise the minds of healthcare providers willing to change to proactive and technology-driven care. To be successful, planning, the choice of technology, and the concept of constant improvement is required.

It is time to launch your RPM program with confidence? HealthArc offers full-service implementation of RPM, including integration of the technology, staff training, and continuous refinement. We have a well-proven methodology to help healthcare providers to achieve faster ROI with high patient outcomes.

Contact HealthArc today to start your RPM Program - We will provide you with our comprehensive implementation roadmap upon completed consultation, many factors to consider.