Remote Therapeutic Monitoring was added to the list of medical care covered by Medicare and Medicaid. These new additions allowed healthcare providers to expand their services to their patients. As such, they have developed a remote therapeutic program designed to expand their reach for offering remote care.
RTM programs don’t just benefit healthcare providers. But patients also benefit from them as they help improve their overall health and patient engagement. If you are yet to take advantage of this program, you could be missing a chance to make more revenue and, above all, help more people recover. Today, we look at Remote Therapeutic Monitoring and how it can benefit medical providers.
What is Remote Therapeutic Monitoring?
This is a program where patients report their healthcare data on various aspects, including medication adherence, therapy response, and respiratory conditions. They can use a medical device to collect non-physiological data or self-report it themselves.
Generally, Remote Therapeutic Monitoring helps clinicians understand a patient’s conditions in different issues like physical therapy, diabetes care, pain care management, patient concerns about the treatment, medication adherence, etc. For example, if patients self-report their medical adherence, they can monitor their reaction to a specific medication, their feelings, and whether the medicine works effectively.
Related article: Remote Patient Monitoring vs Telehealth
Does Remote Therapeutic Monitoring Matter?
Before RTM CPT Codes, it was challenging for Therapeutic Monitoring Benefits Providers to interact with their patients about their general response to medication and other at-home treatments. But now, they can easily do that, thanks to CMS’s reimbursements. Therefore, practitioners can monitor progress, change treatment strategies and encourage home exercise programs to help treat chronic conditions.
Previously, providers used Report Patient Monitoring (RPT). But this only limited them to the data collected from a medical device and not the entire picture. But with RTM, a therapist, for instance, can be paid to check on a patient’s self-report data on things like exercise patterns and their feelings towards medication, exercise programs, etc. As a result, they get more detailed information than what a remote monitoring medical device provides.
Who Can Bill for RTM?
According to the CMS, physicians and other healthcare providers can bill for RTM. CMS said in their final rule that the primary RTM code billers are supposed to be nurses, physical therapists, and physiatrists. But, other healthcare providers like clinical social workers, speech-language pathologists, and occupational therapists can also use the code.
Since there are different codes, you ought to know the one you are billing. For example, the CPT Code 98975 covers therapy adherence and response, musculoskeletal system status, respiratory status, and initial setup, among other things. Using this code, you can document the device type, specific education and training a patient receives, and the device setup needed.
What Are the Benefits of RTM?
RTM offers various benefits to both providers and patients. These include;
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Allows Practitioners to Collect Reliable from Patients
Technology helps us collect better and more accurate data in all industries. In the medical field, this means healthcare professionals will have better results for the patients. Although Remote Therapeutic Monitoring programs are a bit new, many providers have already experienced the positives that come with the additional data collected through this program. As a result, it has better the experiences and outcomes of patients and their medical adherence.
RTM allows medical providers to use monitoring devices and apps to record non-physiologic data. The more patient data a clinician has, the better they can evaluate the patient and recommend effective strategies.
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Helps Patients Adhere to Home Exercise Plans
Committing to something can be challenging, especially when you don’t want to do it. Many practitioners struggle to get their patients to stick to the recommended home exercise plans. But since RTMs use a monitoring device or an app, the patients can access these plans easily and provide their response to the treatment and other information they want to share. And since a clinician will check the data and reach out to them, this will keep the patient motivated to adhere to the program.
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May Boost a Clinic’s Revenue
The most crucial benefit of RTM is that the patient and providers engage with each other outside the office. However, getting paid for a job is also a great benefit. The reason why CMS implemented RTM codes is that clinicians can bill their services and get paid. Therefore, you can expect more revenue from these programs.
Please note that the reimbursement differs depending on the code. For instance, if billing code 98981 includes treatment management service, you get paid $40.84.
Final Thoughts
Remote care is a must-have in medical practices these days. Thankfully, programs like RTM and RPM make it possible for providers to attend to their patients at home. Remote Therapeutic Monitoring has many benefits. It can help you design excellent chronic care management beneficial to your patients while increasing your revenue. So if you don’t have it yet, it’s time to consider it.
