Although RPM, remote patient monitoring, is still a fairly new technology, Silicon Valley AI and healthcare entrepreneur Robin Farmanfarmaian has some very concrete ideas about where it is headed.
Like other remote and virtual healthcare solutions, RPM was embraced and accelerated during the pandemic years, and has now become part of healthcare ecosystem. Farmanfarmaian authored the newly released book “How AI Can Democratize Healthcare: The Rise in Digital Care,” and is a popular speaker with over 180 speaking engagements in 15 countries around the globe. She has previously authored three other books, all focused on technology in healthcare. It is safe to say that Farmanfarmaian has a good grasp on the issues facing healthcare today, and just how the technology-rich future will impact patient care systems.
As part of an October 2022 interview with Healthcare IT News, Farmanfarmaian was asked to describe where she saw RPM – both now and in five to ten years. Her answers are both optimistic and intriguing.
Where We Are
First, Farmanfarmaian summarizes recent trends and growth in RPM. She notes that RPM is still in its infancy, as it has only been in the past five years that the technology has been adopted and integrated into patient care. Although the technology was available, it was not until 2018 that CMS launched CPT codes to enable providers to bill for RPM services – causing it to hit mainstream care.
As the efficacy of RPM continues to become apparent, CMS has updated and expanded its coverage. In 2022, CMS added CPT codes for remote therapeutic monitoring (RTM), which covers respiratory and musculoskeletal conditions. This is an important step for recognizing the value of daily support in managing chronic diseases of several types.
Where We Are Going
RPM Goes Mainstream
Remote patient monitoring has already grown, but it will continue to expand as all major payers catch up to the times. More CPT codes will be approved for reimbursement, expanding the scope of what RPM can do for patients in the future.
Organizations are already seeing that RPM has the ability to prevent hospital readmissions before they happen. The science of using data to implement preventative strategies to maximize patient outcomes will advance, leading to better population health outcomes.
Smart Wearables
The lines are blurring between clinical devices and consumer wearables. Apple, Amazon, Google, and Samsung are some of the tech giants that have influenced this trend with their high-tech wearable products that integrate easily into other apps and technologies.
This trend makes health tracking accessible to everyone, and more and more a part of people’s daily lives. It is quite common for individuals to track their blood pressure, glucose levels, or daily steps even without a physician recommendation or an RPM program.
Farmanfarmaian stresses that this “normalization” of health tracking makes it significantly more likely that patients will continue to use those devices as part of an RPM program, giving their provider access to their health data.
New Innovations
Going beyond the wearable health and fitness tracker, companies are already innovating new ways to collect vital signs. Farmanfarmaian states that within ten years vital signs will be tracked in ways that are intuitive and effortless for the patient – such as subcutaneous sensors that measure vitals for up to five years. The company Eversense already has an implantable sensor cleared by the FDA for continuous glucose monitoring.
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