While the definition of remote patient monitoring may seem straightforward, there is some confusion about the concept, including how it differs from telehealth. Distinguishing between RPM and telehealth is important for several reasons, including coding and billing purposes.
“How is remote patient monitoring different from telehealth?”
A Medicaid resource states, “Telehealth includes such technologies as telephones, facsimile machines, electronic mail systems, and remote patient monitoring devices, which are used to collect and transmit patient data for monitoring and interpretation. While they do not meet the Medicaid definition of telemedicine, they are often considered under the broad umbrella of telehealth services.”
We distinguish between the terms as such: “Remote patient monitoring is the use of a device for interaction between providers and patients outside of the provider’s organization. Telehealth is the use of electronic information and telecommunications technologies to support long-distance clinical care, patient and professional health-related education, public health, and health administration.”
You can further appreciate the difference between remote patient monitoring and telehealth by briefly reviewing Medicare coding and billing guidelines. As of April 2020, there are 4 CPT codes covering RPM: CPT 99453, CPT 99454, CPT 99457, and CPT 99458. None of these codes are included in the lengthy list of 2019 calendar year Medicare telehealth services codes, which cover everything from individual and group kidney disease education services, psychiatric diagnostic interview exams, advance care planning, smoking cessation services, psychoanalysis, and the annual wellness visit (AWV). These RPM codes can be used in conjunction with the already billed services of your Telehealth Company
Providers delivering remote physiologic monitoring services will want to ensure they use the proper RPM CPT codes when submitting claims.
In addition to making these distinctions, it’s also important to delineate between RPM and patient monitoring to obtain a clearer understanding.
Complete RPM has the ability to provide you all aspects of your RPM and CCM program including our expertise in billing to utilize the right coding for a clean patient invoice submission.