Top 5 Benefits of Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) for Providers

In the field of technology and services, healthcare is an ever-changing area. A recent breakthrough is Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM), an innovation that offers various benefits to the healthcare ecosystem. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the government mandated every citizen to postpone their travel plans and imposed a "stay-at-home" order. This urged providers to swiftly adopt the use of telehealth and RPM. With a state-of-the-art technology, user-friendly mobile application, and very easy-to-use medical devices, RPM empowered providers to monitor their patients remotely and in real-time. RPM uses medical devices that are integrated with sensors and wireless data transmission capability. These sensors are used to collect the patients' vital signs and the wireless data transmission capability is used to transmit these collected data from the medical devices to the mobile application to the cloud database, where the provider can access it at any time. As such, despite physical distance, providers can always track their patient's health and adjust their care plan as needed. The broad scope of remote healthcare includes everything from monitoring chronically ill patients, the elderly, premature children, and even accident victims. RPM can benefit patients, providers, and the entire healthcare system by improving health outcomes, lowering costs, and increasing efficiency. This article will discuss the top 5 benefits of RPM to healthcare providers.

Improved productivity

RPM increases the efficiency of healthcare by better utilizing resources. RPM can facilitate faster prioritization of care delivery, case triage, and improved communication by gathering, preserving, and utilizing patient data to improve medical decision-making. RPM helps improve performance and increase patient satisfaction. Additionally, RPM helps healthcare providers reduce waiting room congestion by monitoring several patients remotely and simultaneously. Simultaneous monitoring allows providers to accommodate extra patients while focusing more on their patients with urgent needs.

Increased practice Revenue Streams

Both patients and providers benefit from RPM. It enables healthcare providers to bill for remote patient interactions such as phone calls while increasing billable hours. In addition, telehealth practice cuts down patient no-shows and improves work productivity. RPM can assist providers in gaining a competitive edge by attracting and retaining more patients through innovative care models. Remote patient monitoring helps physicians increase revenue streams through CPT codes 99457 and 99458, which reimburse physicians for time spent on remote care activities such as reviewing patient data. Healthcare providers who use devices that integrate seamlessly into physician workflows, collect large amounts of data, and improve patient health will benefit the most from RPM.

Increased Patient Engagement and Satisfaction

Through RPM, patients are obliged to comply with their maintenance or treatment plan for every failure is reflected on the patient’s account. RPM increases patient accountability, as they know that their physicians are notified for every failure to stick to their health management plan. On the other hand, using RPM will force clinicians to teach their patients how to care for themselves between virtual clinical appointments as part of proactive treatment. With the increasing frequency of chronic health issues, remote monitoring is one strategy used to enhance outcomes while increasing patient participation. When patients measure and collect their own vital signs using wearables and other RPM devices, they play a more active role in their care and decision-making. A 2018 report noted that several health organizations noticed a significant decrease in emergency room visits, hospital readmissions, and inpatient admissions when patients become more involved in their care. Patients enrolled in RPM strictly adhere to treatment and care plans, take medications as prescribed, and regularly maintain contact with their care providers. Remote monitoring improves patient engagement in healthcare, which leads to improved health outcomes and satisfaction.

Greater access to care and reaches more patients

Limited access to healthcare services continues to impact the U.S. population, both living in the rural and urban areas. Limited access to healthcare services is due to, among others, transportation difficulties, geographic isolation, and shortage of physicians. As such, as viewed by experts, RPM is the solution to bridge the gap of healthcare access. RPM allows providers to reach patients living in far-flung areas with the use of modern technology. With RPM, transportation, geography, and shortage of physicians will not affect the delivery of quality care services to patients. As mentioned earlier, RPM allows monitoring of several patients simultaneously and remotely or outside the reach of typical care delivery systems. RPM also bridges the digital divide in healthcare, allowing less tech-savvy elderly patients to captain their own health.

Reduces patient no-shows

There are numerous reasons for no-shows and same-day cancellations of clinic appointments, the most classic is patients forgetting their appointments. These no-shows diminish money, chew up valuable staff time, create false access issues, and most importantly, negatively impact patient care. RPM allows remote and continuous health monitoring. The continuous collection of data will enable the providers to decide on the proper treatment of their patients even without meeting personally and frequently. Hence, it will reduce clinic appearance, reducing no-show appointments without prejudice to the provider's income. Furthermore, patients with chronic conditions who require routine care face the risk of developing complications if they miss appointments. By recording and delivering patient data to providers via connected monitoring devices, RPM eliminates the need for in-person visits. Physicians can do routine check-ins while immediately responding if RPM measurements exceed established normal parameters.

How DrKumo Helps

DrKumo, Inc. is a technology company that provides state-of-the-art RPM. Providers who have been using DrKumo’s RPM have noted significant improvement in their productivity and increased in their revenue. DrKumo’s RPM also encouraged patients to be more involved with their health, resulting in higher satisfaction, especially when their health is bending in their favor. Additionally, one of the most remarkable contributions of DrKumo is its dedication to bridging the gap in healthcare access among populations residing in far-flung areas. Currently, DrKumo’s RPM is being utilized by Native Americans and Veterans to monitor their health conditions. This is part of DrKumo’s advocacy to reach many individuals living in areas with very limited healthcare services. DrKumo’s RPM allows greater access to healthcare and reaches more patients. Providers using DrKumo’s RPM also reported that appointment-no-shows had been lessened because patients are not forced to regularly endure the discomfort of traveling just to visit the clinic. Their health can be monitored even while resting in their homes. Consultations, at times, are made over the phone without compromising the quality of services being rendered. With DrKumo’s RPM, everybody wins, patients and providers alike.