Thea Blystone, PharmD, is a clinical pharmacist at Meadville (Pa.) Medical Center, which implemented a remote patient monitoring (RPM) program supported by the Prevounce platform. Dr. Blystone was one of the leaders of this project. She spoke with Prevounce about a range of topics, including why she's such a strong proponent of RPM, results of the program, why RPM is a perfect fit for rural organizations, and the evolving role of pharmacists in rural hospitals. Note: Responses have been edited slightly for clarity.
Coordinating an effective remote patient monitoring (RPM) program that is both engaging for patients and lucrative for a practice can be challenging for even the most harmonized teams and amenable patients. Understanding all the rules, regulations, and components that surround RPM is essential for creating a program that flows well for your practice and keeps patients engaged in and compliant with best practice treatment protocols. To help your team create the most efficient and effective RPM program possible, we've highlighted a few key details that should make the process easier.
Remote patient monitoring (RPM) is gaining ground and securing its permanency within our evolving healthcare system. Ideal for patients who need close monitoring of their ongoing health concerns, RPM can play an essential role in keeping patients healthier for longer and avoiding the acute exacerbations that can land them in the emergency room or hospital.
More than 6 million adults in the United States have congestive heart failure (CHF), according to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with heart failure costing the nation more than $30 billion annually. Both figures are expected to rise in the coming years, fueled by the “silver tsunami” of aging baby boomers, unhealthy lifestyles taking their toll, and chronic medical conditions like obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes raising the risk of developing CHF. Since CHF is so prevalent, it's more important than ever to find effective treatment solutions that won't break the bank for patients and that help provide better control over our national healthcare spending. Enter remote patient monitoring for congestive heart failure.
For practitioners, getting a patient to adhere to a realistic treatment plan is probably one of the toughest aspects of delivering healthcare. The old proverb "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink" speaks volumes about how patients often behave and interact with treatment plans designed to mitigate the effects of their chronic diseases.
Over just the past few years, the usage and application of telehealth services have begun to grow tremendously, fueled largely by the pandemic.
Looking to leverage FCC funding to launch or expand a remote patient monitoring program (RPM)? Pylo devices by Prevounce are fully qualified for FCC reimbursement, and the Prevounce platform makes it easy to deliver RPM services and connect to your EMR. Want to learn more? Click here to schedule a meeting. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced it will provide $249.5 million in FCC telehealth "grants" for healthcare providers delivering telehealth services. The application window is open from noon ET on Thursday, April 29, through noon ET on Thursday, May 6 (seven calendar days).
Chronic disease has been quietly waging war on American lives throughout the entire 21st century, quickly rising to the top of the most common causes of death in the United States. Some of the major chronic diseases, such as heart disease, chronic lung disease, and type 2 diabetes, are preventable, yet 6 out of 10 American adults still have at least one chronic disease and 4 out of 10 suffer from two or more chronic diseases. Furthermore, the prevalence of chronic diseases crushes our healthcare system with a confounding $3.8 trillion in annual healthcare costs, leading chronic disease to act as a tremendous drain on both staffing and financial resources. Want to learn more about providing and getting paid for preventive services? Check out our detailed guide!
Just saying the word "audit" is a surefire way to make a practitioner's heart skip a beat. So, while we apologize for including the word in our title, we're glad to have grabbed your attention. It was only a matter of time before remote patient monitoring (RPM) received federal scrutiny. That’s why it wasn’t surprising to see RPM included in a January 2021 announcement by the Office of Inspector General that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) would be conducting a series of audits of Medicare Part B telehealth services in two phases (with RPM part of the second phase).
The use of telemedicine and telehealth, fueled by the pandemic, are quickly solidifying its place as a permanent facet of modern healthcare. Within telehealth, some of the most positive — and exciting — developments are occurring with the use of remote patient monitoring (RPM). The expanding usage of RPM, also referred to as remote physiological monitoring, is improving patient health outcomes, reducing the overall cost of healthcare, and improving the quality of life for many patients with chronic diseases. One of the most beneficial uses of RPM is for those suffering from heart failure. Outpatient care techniques that leverage home monitoring for heart failure management are proactively working to reduce the rates of acute exacerbation, keeping heart failure patients out of the hospital and healthier for longer than ever before.
