The survey focused on 25 organizations that utilized an RPM solution provided by one of seven different vendors. In addition to improved satisfaction and reduced hospital admissions and readmissions, the study found that respondents credit RPM with additional benefits.

• 17% – Quantified Cost Reductions
• 13% – RPM Improves Medication Compliance
• 13% – Improved Patient Health
• 8% – Attribute Lower A1c levels to RPM

The KLAS study is just one of a growing number of reports that show the validity of RPM as a tool to improve satisfaction and outcomes while reducing costs for patients and providers.

HealthKOS provides an end-to-end solution for remote patient monitoring that can be tailored to the needs and capabilities of any healthcare organization, including turn-key solutions that allow providers to partner with HealthKOS to launch an RPM program with minimal effort.

For more information or to schedule a demo of our Remote Patient Monitoring Solution, contact us at 1-855-227-3567 or info@healthkos.com

The post Survey Respondents Say Remote Monitoring Improves Patient Satisfaction appeared first on HealthKOS.

HealthKOS, a health-tech company that offers an end-to-end patient engagement solution, has opened a second office for its commercial operations.  The new office is located off I-595 near Weston, at 10200 w State Road 84 in Plantation.   HealthKOS has made the move to accommodate a growing team according to CEO Naveen Goel, MD.

“As our client base continues to grow, so does the staff and resources we need to provide excellent support and service,” says Dr. Goel. “Our new location is convenient for our team members and customers alike.”

HealthKOS now has two main offices in South Florida, The Plantation office is home for business development, marketing, implementation and executive offices. The Cypress Creek office is where the group’s information technology, cyber security and platform development teams sit. In addition, the company has several professionals that work remotely focusing on regional business development activities.

“We wanted to go after the best talent to meet our needs and the needs of our clients,” says Dr. Goel. “We serve customers across the country and need to be able to support them with a mix of in person and centralized teams hence a mix of centralized and regional talent has been assembled.”

As HealthKOS continues to expand, Goel says they’ll evaluate opportunities to open additional offices where the option to do so makes sense. “Wherever our footprint grows large enough to justify a physical location for team members and clients is where you’ll see HealthKOS establish another office,” says Dr. Goel. “We’re already evaluating our opportunities and will add more physical space when the time is right.”

With continued growth and expansion, you may see a HealthKOS location near you soon.

The post HealthKOS Continues to Expand to Accommodate Growing Team appeared first on HealthKOS.

Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) is gaining recognition as a proven method to reduce Hospital Readmissions. So much so that CMS has released CPT codes specifically meant for reimbursement of these services. If you haven’t had a chance to review the new codes – check out my previous blog post that explains the different codes and what services can billed under them.

Important Difference Between Telehealth and RPM

Unlike telehealth, which simply provides another access point for episodic treatment or utilization of healthcare services, Remote Patient Monitoring is a platform that provides continuous engagement between patients and providers. Think of telehealth as another single point of interaction in a patient’s record or chart whereas Remote Patient Monitoring provides a continuous stream of data and interaction that exponentially increases everything from communication to the collection of diagnostic information. Coupled with the correct algorithms to monitor health metrics and care coordinators to engage patients, Remote Patient Monitoring is a game changer in comparison to a simple remote office visit facilitated by telehealth services.

So, How Does Remote Patient Monitoring Help Reduce Admissions

Simply put, Remote Patient Monitoring allows providers to collect and access diagnostic and compliance information linked to a patient’s specific needs for care management, giving them the power to make decisions that are timelier and better informed. What’s more, the new CPT codes mentioned above, allow providers to utilize vendor partnerships and clinical staff to perform much of the work analyzing, engaging and educating patients which may be enough of an intervention to slow disease progression or prevent an admission or readmission.

Potential Impact of Remote Patient Monitoring on the Diabetic Patient Population

Looking at just diabetic patients, the peer reviewed journal American Nurse Today noted that “patients with diabetes account for approximately 480,958 hospital in-patient stays per year with a 30-day readmission rate of 97,784, accounting for a 20.3% hospital readmission rate.”

Now consider, many of those admissions and readmissions are caused by out-of-control glucose levels, inactivity, compliance with medications and adherence to diet restrictions. A diabetic patient on an annual or semiannual follow-up with their primary care provider will only offer that practitioner one or two snap-shots of their health and an often-inaccurate account of their compliance with the prescribed treatment plan. This doesn’t provide the PCP with much of an opportunity to engage, educate, correct or intervene in a timely manner, often leading the non-compliant or progressing diabetic to seek care in another setting such as an urgent care or emergency room. Depending on the severity of the episodic condition or disease progression this can lead to an admission and/or readmission.

Put that same set of diabetic patients in a remote patient monitoring program with the correct set of diagnostic and compliance measures collected and couple it with an algorithm that alerts providers to negative changes in health metrics, and you create a new level of engagement that allows you to correct the patient’s compliance and treatment plan. This gives you the opportunity to help the patient avoid an ER visit, admission or progression of their disease. And for diabetic patients, that may mean avoiding further risk or complications associated with vision loss, neuropathy, infections, kidney disease and heart disease.

An End-to-End Solution to Help Reduce Admissions

HealthKOS is an end-to-end solution that was developed by doctors to improve patient engagement, compliance and outcomes. HealthKOS™ provides direct savings to the physician and healthcare organizations both in time and money as well as improving patient outcomes.

What makes HealthKOS™ different is that it utilizes automated algorithms, real-time data, and quality metrics to involve patients in their own care, as well as keeping healthcare providers and family constantly informed. HealthKOS™ allows the healthcare team to monitor patient progress outside the practice office, leading to timely interventions, preventing disease progression and unnecessary hospitalizations.

The post Reducing Readmissions Through Remote Patient Monitoring appeared first on HealthKOS.

CMS recently released new CPT Codes meant for use in the reimbursement of Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) services. In doing so, the agency proclaimed, “We now recognize that advances in communication technology have changed patients’ and practitioners’ expectations regarding the quantity and quality of information that can be conveyed via communication technology. From the ubiquity of synchronous, audio/video applications to the increased use of patient-facing health portals, a broader range of services can be furnished by health care professionals via communication technology as compared to 20 years ago.”

And though they specifically mention audio/video applications, these new codes differ greatly from the previous iterations that were meant to reimburse tele-health Services that connect providers to patients using these A/V plat

The new Remote Patient Monitoring codes are specifically designed to address reimbursement for establishing RPM services, remotely collecting and transmitting health related data from patients to clinicians, reviewing the data collected and interacting remotely with the patient. More information on the specific codes can be found here, in one of my earlier blog posts.

Differences Between Tele-Health and Remote Patient Monitoring

Some of the most notable differences between what qualifies as tele-health and what qualifies as Remote Patient Monitoring are within the requirements for the visual side of contact, rural geographies and originating sites.

Unlike Tele-health, RPM does not specifically require audio/visual interaction between patients and providers and there is no requirement for patients to access or receive services in a rural area. There are also no requirements for originating sites in order to bill for RPM services. However, for RPM services to be reimbursable, patients must have a qualifying face-to-face visit with the provider within one-year prior to the beginning of services. RPM simplifies the contact aspect, noting only that providers are required to deliver 20 minutes of professional time each month which includes interactive communication with the patient or caregiver.

Partnering With Health Tech Companies to Provide Remote Patient Monitoring

The new regulations also make it easier for healthcare providers to partner with health technology companies to provide Remote Patient Monitoring services. This is because most RPM services can be provided by “clinical staff” under “general supervision” to help fulfill the 20-minute-per-month requirement for providing RPM services. With that provision in place, providers are not required to be in the same place as the staff charged with providing RPM services.

Given this autonomy, choosing the right Remote Patient Monitoring partner gives providers peace-of-mind that the staff they choose to manage RPM will have all of the training and tools necessary to provide high quality services and outstanding patient satisfaction. It also means they’ll be positioned correctly to capture the increased reimbursement possible when all of the requirements are met.

An End-to-End Solution to Improve Patient Engagement

HealthKOS is an end-to-end solution that was developed by doctors to improve patient engagement, compliance and outcomes. HealthKOS™ provides direct savings to the physician and healthcare organizations both in time and money as well as improving patient outcomes.

What makes HealthKOS™ different is that it utilizes automated algorithms, real-time data, and quality metrics to involve patients in their own care, as well as keeping healthcare providers and family constantly informed. HealthKOS™ allows the healthcare team to monitor patient progress outside the practice office, leading to timely interventions, preventing disease progression and unnecessary hospitalizations.

The post Remote Patient Monitoring vs Tele-health Services appeared first on HealthKOS.

By now, it is no secret that remote patient monitoring (RPM) can be an effective solution for improving patient care. Not only can RPM provide a streamlined approach, but it can also cut down on financial penalties due to poor hospital performance. By implementing an effective RPM system guided by a care coordinator, healthcare providers can more closely monitor their patients and intervene when needed.

So how can we integrate remote patient monitoring programs into our health systems?

Enable RPM Programs with Strong Care Coordinators

As the accountable care organization (ACO) model of healthcare continues to expand, the care coordinator is becoming a vital role after hospital discharges. Initially, physicians and advanced clinicians, such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants, were the main players in care coordination. However, other healthcare professionals have become valuable resources for care coordination, especially among chronically ill patients.

Care coordinators are responsible for several actions that can help improve quality of care and overall patient satisfaction. They ultimately help reduce hospital readmissions and execute cost saving measures for both the hospital and the patient. In a remote patient monitoring system, these responsibilities can include:

1. Following up with patients after hospital discharge by telephone or health software platform
2. Ensuring patients receive their discharge instructions and fill any new medications
3. Educating patients on their condition and chronic signs and symptoms
4. Monitoring patient quality metrics and measuring them against assigned values
5. Identifying risks for hospital readmission and relaying patient vitals and “alerts” to their physician

Drive Patient Engagement with Coordination of Care

Care coordinators are essential for driving patient engagement in a consistent manner. By providing virtual check-ins and assessments, patients can get the care they need with minimal effort and cost. This way, patients can feel comfortable knowing that supportive resources are available.

Depending on patient conditions, care coordinators typically perform monitoring and assessments on an ongoing basis. In some cases, targeted conditions such as COPD and heart failure, may need additional support such as a 30-day post-discharge check-in and/or a quarterly or annual assessment

Through the use of remote patient monitoring platforms, care coordinators have a direct line of communication to address patient concerns. Patients may sometimes have questions regarding their condition(s), such as appropriate diet or lifestyle measures. Care coordinators can continually review patient vitals and overall health via remote monitoring platforms for quick intervention. These interventions can include recommending a doctor’s visit, referring the patient to a specialist, or providing coaching for self-management.

Care Coordinators Becoming Essential

Care coordinators are becoming an essential part of chronic care management. Because of their growing importance and the flexibility in remote patient monitoring reimbursement requirements, their positions can often be filled without the need for advanced medical degree. While many care coordinators are nurses or medical social workers, these roles can also be sourced from those with bachelor’s degrees in medical, business, or hospital administration.

Depending on the organization utilizing remote patient monitoring services, a care coordinator can be part of the internal team or outsourced as a remote position. Many healthcare professionals can build upon their existing education and experience and be trained to provide the correct level of coordination by their employer or their employer’s remote patient monitoring partner. Utilizing a dedicated care coordinator then allows providers to be more efficient by focusing on patients who are physically present in the clinical setting.

Care coordinators can help providers maintain a higher standard of care on an ongoing basis through remote patient monitoring programs. With little cost and minimal oversight, healthcare providers can supplement patient care with consistent assessments allowing for education and intervention as needed. By providing extensive support for patients and physicians, care coordinators can ultimately improve patient engagement, reduce cost and drive appropriate levels of utilization.  

The post The Role of the Care Coordinator in Remote Patient Monitoring appeared first on HealthKOS.