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Key Takeaways
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Your current patient panel is the most dependable source of new RPM enrollees, and you can usually build the eligible list from an EHR query by diagnosis code.
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Tie enrollment to an office visit. The provider recommends RPM, and a trained staff member completes consent and device setup before the patient leaves, so every patient gets the same start.
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Don't screen out patients who seem unlikely to take readings every day. In a Prevounce analysis of hypertension patients, those who transmitted 2 to 15 days of readings a month saw nearly the same blood pressure improvement as those who transmitted 16 or more.
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A monthly review of a short set of metrics shows where patients are dropping out and when the care team needs more capacity.
A remote patient monitoring (RPM) pilot runs on the attention of a few committed staff members. Growing past it means enrollment has to hold up on an ordinary clinic day, when providers are behind schedule and whoever is free explains the program to patients.
The steps below treat enrollment and retention as one process, from pulling the first list of eligible patients to deciding when the care team needs more hands. A patient who disenrolls in month two took the same outreach and onboarding effort as one who stays for a year, so retention planning starts on the first day of enrollment.
Where RPM Programs Lose Patients
Each stage of a patient's path through RPM has its own drop-off point, and each maps to a step in this guide.
|
Stage |
Where RPM patients drop off |
Step that addresses it |
|
Identification |
Eligible patients are never flagged or offered RPM |
Step 1 |
|
Enrollment conversation |
Patients decline because the benefit or cost is unclear |
Step 2 |
|
Device setup |
The device never connects, or the first reading never arrives |
Step 3 |
|
First 30 days |
Readings taper off before they become routine |
Step 4 |
|
Ongoing months |
Patients hear nothing back about their data |
Step 5 |
|
Program oversight |
Declining engagement goes unnoticed until billing review |
Step 6 |
|
Growth |
Staff capacity limits how many patients the program can take on |
Step 7 |
1. Build Your Eligible RPM Patient List From Existing Data
RPM requires an established patient relationship, which makes your current panel the natural place to find new enrollees. Start with a report of active patients who have conditions RPM supports well, like hypertension, diabetes, heart failure, or obesity. Then narrow it to patients seen within the past year. For example: One of our clients, a family medicine practice in Georgia, pulled the list for its RPM relaunch from its Medicare patient database by diagnosis code.
Rank the list before outreach begins. A retrospective analysis of 655 hypertension patients by our team found the largest blood pressure reductions in patients with stage 2 hypertension, including a 9.1% drop in systolic pressure. Beyond diagnosis, prioritize patients whose care plans are likely to change based on readings between visits, such as those with a recent emergency department visit or a new medication.
Be careful about ruling out patients because they seem unlikely to take readings every day. In the same analysis, patients who transmitted 2 to 15 days of data a month achieved nearly the same reduction in mean arterial pressure as patients who transmitted 16 or more days. Since January 2026, those months have also qualified for CPT 99445, the device supply code for 2 to 15 days of readings. Our RPM patient eligibility quick guide covers how to identify candidates and document the initial RPM visit.
2. Start Enrollment With the Provider's Recommendation
Our Physician Advisory Board's takeaways on RPM adoption point to close integration of RPM with routine care as a key to patient buy-in, and that integration starts at the visit itself. Flag eligible patients on the day's schedule so the provider can recommend RPM during the visit. Then have a trained medical assistant or nurse complete enrollment before the patient leaves.
Tying enrollment to a visit also prepares your organization for a proposed change. CMS's CY2027 Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule would require a face-to-face initiating visit, in person or via telehealth, before RPM begins.
Give the enrollment conversation a set structure, so each patient hears the same information no matter who enrolls them:
- The reason the provider is recommending RPM, tied to the patient's own readings or recent history
- A realistic picture of the daily routine, including how long a reading takes
- Who reviews the data, and how often the care team will call
- The plan for readings that fall outside the range the provider set
- Cost sharing (Medicare patients owe 20% coinsurance after the Part B deductible, which secondary or supplemental coverage often pays)
Consent belongs in the same conversation. Medicare accepts verbal consent documented in the medical record, though other payers may require written consent. Consent is one of several requirements for Medicare-reimbursable RPM that staff should document the same way for every patient.
3. Take Device Setup Off the Patient's To-Do List
A Bluetooth device typically has to be paired with a smartphone app or a separate hub before its first reading reaches the care team. When a device goes home unpaired, that step falls to the patient or their caregiver. Cellular-connected devices send each reading automatically over a cellular network, with no pairing and no smartphone required, which is why we recommend cellular as the default for most RPM populations.
Setup is only one of the tradeoffs between cellular and Bluetooth devices to weigh. Before you buy, also vet any vendor's claim that its devices are truly cellular.
Decide how devices will reach patients before enrollment scales. Handing the device over in the office lets staff take the first reading with the patient and confirm it transmitted. Shipping devices directly to patients means the office doesn't hold inventory. In that case, a call scheduled for the day the device arrives gives staff a chance to walk the patient through the first reading. Either way, confirm a transmitted reading within a few days of enrollment.
4. Plan the First 30 Days as Part of Enrollment
The first month is when a new patient works readings into their routine, so the care team's outreach during that month belongs in the enrollment process. A welcome call in the first week gives staff a chance to review the first readings with the patient and settle on a good time of day for regular readings.
Set up two alerts by the end of onboarding. The first notifies staff when a patient goes several days without transmitting, so a quiet stretch gets a call that week and doesn't wait until the month-end billing review. The second flags out-of-range readings against thresholds set for that patient, so staff review each one with context.
A patient who logs only a handful of readings in month one still deserves the care team's attention, and that month can still qualify under CPT 99445.
5. Build Human Contact Into Every Month
The results in our hypertension analysis came from a program that paired monitoring with structured, recurring contact. Care managers reviewed incoming readings, recommended lifestyle changes, and escalated to providers when readings warranted it. Moderate- and high-engagement patients saw similar results, an indication that this contact carries real clinical weight regardless of how many days a patient transmits.
Monthly contact is also required for the treatment management codes. CPT 99457 and CPT 99470 each require at least one interactive communication with the patient during the month. Use those conversations to give patients something to act on:
- A look at their trend line and how it compares with the target the provider set
- One goal for the coming month, such as a blood pressure range or a weekly weight trend
- An explanation whenever a reading prompted an escalation or a change to their care plan
Sharing readings with the provider before office visits lets each visit build on the monthly calls. For more on how remote monitoring supports adherence between visits, see 8 ways remote patient monitoring improves patient engagement.
6. Review Program Metrics Every Month
A monthly review of a short set of metrics shows which stage of the program is losing patients while there's still time to reach them.
|
Metric |
What it shows |
Signal to act on |
|
Eligible patients offered RPM |
Reach of the identification and scheduling process |
Many flagged patients never hear about the program |
|
Offered patients who enroll |
How well the enrollment conversation converts |
Rates vary widely by provider or staff member |
|
Days from enrollment to first reading |
Whether device delivery and setup are working |
First readings take more than a week to arrive |
|
Patients by reading days (0-1, 2-15, 16+) |
Overall engagement and billing eligibility |
The 0-1 group grows month over month |
|
Patients with a completed monthly interactive communication |
Care team capacity relative to enrollment |
The share falls as enrollment rises |
|
Disenrollments and stated reasons |
Why patients leave |
One reason keeps recurring |
Record a reason for every disenrollment, using a few fixed categories such as device trouble, cost, a change in clinical status, or a patient who no longer sees the value. When one category keeps appearing, the table at the beginning of this guide shows which step to revisit. Hold the review a few days before your billing cycle closes, while staff can still reach patients with missing readings or communications.
7. Add Capacity Before Enrollment Outgrows Your Team
RPM can be furnished by clinical staff under general supervision. A medical assistant or nurse can own daily data review, outreach, and documentation while the billing provider stays involved in the patient's care. Past a certain panel size, one staff member can't keep up with daily review and monthly calls. Watch for these signs that the team has reached its limit:
- Out-of-range alerts wait more than a day for review
- Most monthly calls land in the final week of the month
- Staff have paused enrollment outreach to keep up with current patients
- A new patient's welcome call slips past the first week
Some organizations respond to trends like these by hiring dedicated RPM staff or setting aside more time for RPM services delivered by existing clinical staff. Others bring in outsourced care managers.
What RPM Growth Looks Like in Practice
Before partnering with Prevounce, the family medicine practice mentioned earlier enrolled 35 patients in its first remote care program, and fewer than 10 of them were billable. Patients wrote blood pressure readings in logbooks and brought them to the office or called them in. Without ongoing outreach, participation fell off, and some patients said the program was hard to keep up with.
In 2022, the clinic partnered with Prevounce and relaunched with cellular blood pressure monitors and a patient list pulled by diagnosis code. It ended the first month with 30 engaged, billable patients.
The program has since grown to more than 190 patients, split roughly evenly between Medicare and commercial coverage, with medical assistants running day-to-day operations. The clinic's CEO has described using real-time alerts to reach patients with stroke-level readings and get them to the emergency room. Office visits have risen about 30%, and the program generates about $30,000 a month in recurring revenue.
How Prevounce Helps Organizations Grow RPM
Prevounce supports enrollment and retention at each of these steps. Our RPM software captures patient consent during enrollment, sends customizable alerts on out-of-range readings, and produces a monthly report showing the codes each patient qualifies for. Pylo, our line of cellular-connected devices, sends readings over cellular networks with no pairing required. Our clinically trained care managers can recruit and enroll patients, make monthly outreach calls, and alert your providers to patient issues under your organization's oversight.
Book a consultation to map an enrollment and retention process to your staff and patient population. To prepare for the 2027 final rule, register for our Nov. 19 webinar, Understanding Medicare's 2027 Changes to Remote Care Management.
Frequently Asked Questions About Growing RPM Enrollment
How do you increase patient enrollment in an RPM program?
Start with established patients on your panel, and rank them by who is most likely to benefit from readings between visits. Have providers recommend RPM during the visit and a trained staff member complete consent and device setup before the patient leaves.
Why do patients drop out of RPM programs?
Reasons vary by program, which is why it helps to record one for every disenrollment. Device trouble, cost concerns, and a sense that no one is reviewing the readings can all contribute.
What happens if an RPM patient doesn't take readings 16 days a month?
A patient who transmits 2 to 15 days of readings in a 30-day period qualifies for CPT 99445. Only months with zero or one day of readings go unbilled for device supply.
Do patients need a smartphone for RPM?
Not with cellular-connected devices, which send readings over a cellular network without pairing. Bluetooth devices typically require a smartphone app or a separate hub.
Can RPM patients also be enrolled in CCM or APCM?
Yes. RPM runs as a separate, concurrent program alongside either CCM or APCM. CCM and APCM are alternatives to each other, so a patient enrolls in one or the other in a given month. Integrating RPM and CCM for the same patient adds regular care coordination to monitoring.
Should we outsource RPM enrollment and monitoring?
Outsourced care managers can add enrollment and monitoring capacity without new hires, which helps when enrollment grows faster than the in-house team.