Medicare Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) are increasingly leveraging telehealth and Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) to enhance care coordination, improve patient outcomes, and reduce healthcare costs.
These solutions constitute a powerful combination where telehealth delivers timely access and RPM provides continuous monitoring.
Their value was proven during the COVID-19 pandemic when 55% of Medicare beneficiaries in urban areas and 44% in rural areas used telehealth. During that same period, RPM use increased by 555%.
Increased adoption of telehealth and RPM helped Medicare ACOs realize three areas of savings:
In light of telehealth extensions in 2025, which could be made permanent, ACOs can achieve four outcomes through the continued adoption of telehealth and RPM together via streamlined operational workflows, automation technologies, and standardized software:
These four objectives are essential for ACOs to meet their Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) targets and reap their reward from a record $3.1 billion in shared savings payments in 2024 and the $21 billion in gross savings ACOs have achieved since 2012.
Telehealth is becoming an essential feature of value-based care, while RPM is enabling continuous care at a distance.
Providers can help keep patients at home and avoid high-cost care channels, such as emergency department (ED) or urgent care visits, hospital admissions, or skilled nursing stays. RPM alone is projected to save healthcare $200 billion over the next 25 years.
Telehealth and RPM have been shown to deliver several utilization benefits, including:
Various research studies demonstrate that telehealth and RPM can improve patient participation and adherence to treatment plans.
This is particularly important for senior adults living with hard-to-manage or multiple chronic conditions where treatment protocols overlap and may even conflict.
CMS has estimated that telehealth alone saves Medicare patients $60 million in travel costs, projecting $170 million in reduced annual costs by 2029.
A 2023 study evaluated an ACO-based, pharmacist-led telehealth intervention, demonstrating that improving medication management for clinically complex patients could also result in cost savings. The program generated a PMPM of $2,331.85 over the first 6 months.
Telehealth and RPM enable ACOs to achieve improved outcomes at lower costs by allowing timely interventions and reducing acute disease exacerbations.
Many of the patients ACOs enroll in telehealth, RPM, and care management programs are sicker at baseline. Providing ongoing clinical monitoring, management, and engagement allows providers and their care teams to be alerted to significant changes in status and act accordingly.
Improved access, guided by critical and time-sensitive information, represents a new level of leverage that providers can use to slow disease progression overall and prevent further complications.
Introducing and managing technologies like telehealth and RPM, alongside care management programs such as Chronic Care Management, Principal Care Management, or Advanced Primary Care Management, requires operational standards and clinical workflows that equip ACOs to oversee successful services.
Streamlined workflows and automation have been shown to significantly influence RPM and telehealth ROI.
ThoroughCare helps ACOs achieve cost-efficiency goals through utilization, patient engagement, and disease management via care coordination software, consulting services, and staff training. Equipped with standardized processes, policies, and technology, care teams can effectively monitor more patients.
Telehealth and Remote Patient Monitoring have been shown to help ACOs control costs by achieving four outcomes, including:
Through technology, operational standards, and clinical workflows, ACO care teams and care management services provide ongoing monitoring and the opportunity to avoid clinical complications, improve patient engagement, and reduce high-cost care utilization.