Posted On: JUL-2023 | Categories : Healthcare
Remote patient monitoring (RPM) devices enable healthcare professionals to examine and track a patient's chronic or acute problems away from a clinic or hospital. They enable the practitioner to have a real-time understanding of the patient's disease state and take preventative clinical actions.
Devices for remote patient monitoring encourage regular interaction & an understanding of a patient's health. Patients are likely to have long lasting, positive health outcomes when they engage with their health using RPM devices on a regular basis.
In 2021, the market for remote patient monitoring was worth USD 1.45 billion, and by 2030 it will be worth USD 4.07 billion, growing at a 8.74% CAGR.
The rising incidence of chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory disease, which need ongoing monitoring and management, is one of the major factors driving the market for remote patient monitoring devices. As per the American Cancer Society annual report 2022, there were more than 500,000 cancer related deaths in the US & 1.9 million new cases of cancer.
The aging population in the United States is driving growth in the patient monitoring devices market. Per WHO, there will be nearly 1.5 billion geriatric population globally. This shifting population will increase the demand for monitoring solutions to identify, manage, and treat health issues because older individuals often have more health conditions like heart disease than younger ones.
In 2020, 23 million patients were utilizing technologies & services for remote patient monitoring and by 2025, 70.6 million patients in the US ( nearly 26.2% population), will use remote patient monitoring devices.
Per a research 80% of Americans support RPM & 50-70% of Americans favor remote patient monitoring programs with their healthcare providers to monitor heart rate, blood pressure, & sugar level.
Wearables are a different class of RPM devices that can monitor patients' health over time. Nearly 320 million consumer health and wellness wearable devices will ship globally in 2022, and by 2024, that number will increase to 440 million units.
Per a research by Kaiser Permanente, 13,055 patients signed for COVID-19 Home Monitoring program between April 2020 - February 2021; 95.5 % recovered, 10.6% required hospital admission, & 0.2 % passed away.
Study from Mayo Clinic published in 2021 revealed that COVID-19 patients who participated in an RPM program had few ER visits & hospitalization rates. The study found out that within 30 days of enrolment, there were nearly 11.4% ER visits, 9.4% percent hospitalizations, & 0.4% fatalities.
Remote patient monitoring offers benefits like convenience (45%), efficiency (40%), control over personal health (38%), greater accuracy (37%), & peace of mind (37%).
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services introduced CPT code 99091 in 2018, a general code for the gathering and analysis of medical data supplied in digital form. This move was intended to explicitly acknowledge the potential benefit of RPM. In 2019 three new codes were added by CMS. In order to allow physicians to claim for every 20 additional minutes spent reviewing RPM data and consulting with patients to modify their care plans, CMS created a fourth code, 99458, in 2020. In 2022, CMS introduced five codes for remote therapeutic monitoring (RTM), demonstrating its sustained support for RPM. These codes are used for billing for services that involve the collection of non-physiologic data, such as respiratory problems or a patient's medication compliance.
Remote Patient Monitoring is becoming popular due to a confluence of patient interest, administrative support, and pandemic necessity. Despite the modest initial acceptance, from January 2019 and November 2022, claims volumes for these 10 CPT codes increased by 1,298%.
More claims had been submitted across all 10 codes in 2022 alone than in any previous year. RPM claim volumes were already 27% greater in November 2022 than in 2021. 26 states had implemented Medicaid coverage for remote patient monitoring as of April 2021.
Medicare will pay clinicians an additional $120 per patient per month in 2020 when they engage in an approved program to get the additional reimbursement for remote patient monitoring. At that rate, a clinic may earn $72,000 a year if 50 patients engage in an RPM program.
General RPM claims rose by 400% from March 2020 to 2021 due to the epidemic. Most of general RPM claims (50%) were made by primary care providers, 69% of claims for general RPM were produced by 342 providers, & 40% of them (136 providers) prescribed RPM.
Implantation of RPM reduced hospital readmission by 85% and saved costs upto USD 5.5 million. The cost savings potential is a significant benefit. For instance, Deaconess Health in Evansville, Indiana, saw a 50% reduction in their 30-day readmission rate after implementing an RPM program, resulting in a $500,000 savings in readmission-related expenses, including penalties. According to a survey, using RPM resulted in a considerable fall in costs, from $129,480 to $36,914 (72% decrease in expenses).
Over the past few years, RPM usage has increased. As Per a research by the American Medical Association, 20% of physicians utilized RPM in 2018. One-third of the doctors utilizing RPM were specialists, with cardiologists making up the majority (63.3%) and endocrinologists & diabetic experts making up the majority (41.6%).
RPM was most frequently utilized by physicians practicing internal medicine, accounting for 29.1% of their procedure claims. Family practice doctors (19.7 %) and cardiology providers (21.5 %) had significant shares of RPM procedure claims.
51% of RPM-related claims were for essential hypertension, followed by diabetes mellitus with problems (10.4%), diabetic mellitus without problems (6.4%), hypertension with complications & secondary hypertension (5.4%), & diabetes mellitus without complications.
According to the report, regional differences in RPM adoption also exist. The Southeast area of the US accounted for 26.9 percent of all claims for RPM-related operations and diagnoses in 2022, followed by the Northeast (22.6%), the Midwest (21.7%), the West (16.5%), and the Southwest (12.1%).
From 87% in 2016-95% in 2022, regardless of age & speciality, doctors perspective of digital health tools for patient care grew.
The largest growth has been seen in the use of digital health solutions that facilitate remote care. While the usage of remote monitoring devices more than quadrupled from 12% in 2016 to 30% in 2022, the utilization of virtual visits by doctors surged from 14% in 2016 - 80% in 2022.
Benefits for RPM Providers and Payers
By 2025, 70 million US patients, or more than one in four Americans, will use remote patient monitoring services. According to a study of 25 healthcare companies, the burden of chronic care admissions reduced by 41%, and 19% of them also experienced lower expenses after implementing Remote Patient Monitoring devices & services.
In urban & rural areas, 75% of doctors have adopted Remote patient monitoring to manage chronic disorders, 65% adopted RPM for medical management, & 60% for care coordination.
Hospital admissions & readmissions financially burden the US healthcare system. Readmission is expensive for the providers & patients, but it could be better for the greatest results. As per the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the average readmission for each patient is worth $ 15,200.
In the US, congestive heart failure (CHF) is a leading cause of death. According to CDC data, cardiovascular disease related mortality occurs in the US every 36 seconds. 20% of patients with CHF are readmitted within 30 days of being released from the hospital.
As per the American Heart Association, the national average cost of a CHF admission is $34,150 & average cost of a CHF readmission is $13,5050.
According to CDC (center for disease control & Prevention), 37.3 million people have diabetes in the United States. The average yearly medical expense for diabetes is $16,752, nearly 2.3 times that for nondiabetics.
Good RPM programs had positive clinical and economic outcomes. Patients who participated in these RPM programs reported satisfaction and decreased care requests. The number of on-call emergency doctor visits fell by 51%. There was a 47% decrease in medical visits. 40% fewer elderly patients were admitted to hospitals.
RPM initiatives reduced hospital readmissions for Medicare participants by 76%. Patients participating in RPM programs reported being satisfied in 97% of cases.
Top Trends in Remote Patient Monitoring Devices
The healthcare sector's market for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML)will reach $20 million this year. The growing acceptance of telehealth and telemedicine technologies strongly influenced the expansion of AI software solutions. AI improves healthcare delivery by altering how medical professionals communicate with patients. By utilizing AI, doctors can forecast, monitor, diagnose, and treat their patients from their homes while using remote patient monitoring.
Caregivers & pediatric patients use RPM to manage medical disorders, like diabetes, asthma, genetic diseases, neonatal care, mental health etc. Children's health outcomes may be improved by giving them care in places where they feel most comfortable. RPM also offers families with time & location constraints flexibility, & improved access.
In RPM, wearable gadgets that track a patient's vitals—like heart rate and blood pressure—are becoming more popular. These gadgets can give healthcare professionals real-time data, enabling more prompt and efficient care. Patients will have additional tools this year to receive care at home, ranging from smartwatches & Fitbit that can monitor heart rate & oxygen levels to more sophisticated gadgets like pulse oximeters, ECGs, and blood pressure monitors.
Low health literacy patients are more likely to have unfavorable medical outcomes, make medication mistakes, struggle to manage their illnesses, make needless hospital visits, and re-admit. Teleconsultations and teach-back films are two options that RPM solutions are adopting to help patients in understanding their health & participating actively in their care. To motivate patients to take a more proactive approach to manage their diseases, practitioners are also incorporating disease-specific resources into patient care regimens.
In order to prevent unauthorized disclosure of patients' sensitive health information, healthcare providers must follow the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of 1996. However, during COVID-19, Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act restrictions on telehealth were relaxed to provide healthcare delivery more liberty. RPM systems are used to gather and send more sensitive health data, increasing the requirement for strong data security measures. Because of this, telehealth and RPM providers like HRS continue to prioritize patient privacy and confidentiality despite the laxer restrictions.
North America Remote Patient Monitoring Market
The US holds the greatest market share in North America for remote patient monitoring, followed by Canada. The need for remote patient monitoring devices in hospitals & clinics, the rising prevalence of cardiovascular disease and home healthcare in the US, and an increase in the country's elderly population contribute to the market's expansion. In the United States, heart disease is the prominent cause of death for both men and women. Per CDC, coronary heart disease is the most prevalent type of heart disease that, causes 370,000 fatalities annually. Preventive care is becoming increasingly popular as people's concerns about their health, particularly cardiac problems, have increased. This has boosted the need for heart rate monitors in this area.
Asia Pacific Remote Patient Monitoring devices
The rising aging populations, the rising rate of chronic diseases, the need to control healthcare costs, the demand for home monitoring devices, & the portability & ease of use of devices are driving the market growth rate. The United Nations Population Fund estimates that 80% of China's population living in 2022 was between the ages of 15 & 65. Additionally, 15% of the population was above 65 years of age in 2022.
In addition, China has a high prevalence of chronic disorders like cancer, obesity, diabetes, and others will propel the development of the market. For instance, the International Diabetic Federation (IDF) estimates that 5 million people (20-79 years) have diabetes in 2022. By 2030, there will be 6487 million diabetics worldwide, and by 2045 this number will expand to 783 million. The prevalence of chronic diseases will enhance demand for remote patient monitoring systems, propelling market expansion.
Over the forecast period, Japan will exhibit significant growth in the Asia-Pacific remote patient monitoring market due to expanding geriatric population and the burden of chronic diseases. The market will grow because of rising launches and firms' increased focus on creating cutting-edge remote healthcare monitoring solutions to control diseases.
Remote patient monitoring is expanding quickly and will increase significantly over the next several years. Technology advancements like wearables and artificial intelligence (AI) are spurring innovation in the sector, and there is an increasing emphasis on extending remote patient monitoring trends to new healthcare sectors. Since remote monitoring necessitates the gathering and transferring of private and sensitive health information, data privacy and security are also major issues.