Healthcare Innovation: Top 5 Benefits of a RTM Solution

Healthcare providers have become accustomed to innovating patient care delivery oftentimes via the use of technology in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now more than ever, we have the opportunity to embrace technology and its ability to enhance patient care, the provider experience and the operations of health care facilities. Remote Therapeutic Monitoring (RTM) is one of those technological advances which specifically benefits skilled, restorative therapy professions, including physical therapy services.

If you’re unfamiliar with RTM solutions, you’re not alone. There’s time to catch up and learn about the ways in which RTM is helping drive the physical therapy profession forward. Here are some of the benefits:

1. Data Driven Treatment

   • Continuous data outside of scheduled session times including activity levels, self reported symptoms, sleep hygiene, and some physiological metrics can be used to inform treatment decisions and improve efficiency regarding plan of care development.

2. Reimbursement for Use

   • Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) credentialed facilities including Rehabilitation Agencies, Skilled Nursing Facilities (under Medicare Part B), Home Health Agencies (under Medicare Part B), Comprehensive Outpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (CORFs), and hospital affiliated outpatient therapy departments; all can bill CMS under 5 new CPT codes.1

3. Enhance Patient Retention

   • RTM can help patients’ be more engaged in their physical therapy plan of care by increasing their activity awareness outside of therapy sessions and promoting greater goal/metric tracking to discuss with their physical therapist.

4. Customization

   • The ability to utilize self-reported symptoms such as pain, fatigue or stress levels in combination with objective measurements such as heart rate variability and step count can optimize goal setting as well as individualized progress tracking.

5. Fall Prevention Strategy

   • An estimated 25% of adults over the age of 65 fall annually in the U.S. with related healthcare costs expected to grow to potentially $101 billion in the next decade. RTM data can inform ongoing falls risk assessment in an effort to improve patient safety and reduce the financial burden of fall related costs.2

Written by Dr. Lisa Palmerino PT, DPT

Reference List

1. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Dof Hand HS, ed. Transmittal 11118. Change Request 12446. Pub 100-04 Medicare Claims Processing – CMS Manual System. https://www.aapc.com/codes/exclusives/transmittals/2022-annual-update-to-the-therapy-code-list-6681. Published November 10, 2021. Accessed May 3, 2022.

2. NCOA NCon A, ed. Get the Facts on Falls Prevention. NCOA. https://www.ncoa.org/article/get-the-facts-on-falls-prevention. Published July 14, 2021. Accessed May 10, 2022.