.jpg "Daniel Godla")
Remote Therapeutic Monitoring (RTM) and Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) are two care management programs that involve the remote data collection and monitoring of patients to support their care. So why would Medicare make two similar programs? In this video, we explore the differences between RTM and RPM, so you know when and why to offer each to your patients.
The goal of both Remote Patient Monitoring and Remote Therapeutic Monitoring is to improve the health outcomes of patients through device monitoring. But, they differ in the type of data and the purpose of the monitoring.
What type of data do they collect?
RPM monitors clinical changes using objective physiological data, which includes vital signs like blood pressure, heart rate, blood sugar, or weight. On the other hand, RTM collects non-physiological data. Non-physiological data can include objective data from digital health devices and subjective data from patient-reported outcomes. Examples of these include pain levels, range of motion, medication, or exercise adherence.
What type of conditions do each program cover?
RPM can be used for any condition where a clinician deems it medically necessary. It is most often used with chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, congestive heart failure, and chronic kidney disease. RTM is currently limited to musculoskeletal, respiratory, and cognitive behavior therapy related conditions. It’s most often used for osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, COPD, obesity, anxiety, and depression.
Who can offer each program's services?
The billing eligibility differs between the programs as well. RPM is limited to physicians and non-physician practitioners, while RTM includes a broader range of billing practitioners, physicians, non-physician practitioners, therapists, speech language pathologists.
When should one program be used over the other?
A provider cannot bill RPM and RTM for the same patient in the same month, but patients may transition from one program to the other when clinically appropriate due to changes in their conditions. Depending on the patient and their condition, RPM or RTM may be more suitable for a given month.
For example, a patient may undergo heart surgery, and the specialist overseeing their care may enroll them in RPM when they are discharged home. The initial RPM monitoring may look for weight gain, variable heart rate, and pulse oximetry. Once the patient has stable and consistent readings within a desired range, the specialist may stop RPM and enroll them in RTM to monitor their pain levels, medication adherence, and rehabilitation therapy adherence.
Combining either RPM or RTM with other care management programs provides a powerful combination of virtual care and regular patient engagement. Both RPM and RTM can be billed concurrently with other Medicare programs like Chronic Care Management, Principal Care Management, Behavioral Health Integration, Transitional Care Management, and Advanced Primary Care Management. This can lead to a reduction in costly emergency or inpatient care, improved self-management, treatment and medication adherence, and the slowing of disease progression.
