A report from HHS' Office of Inspector General, entitled “Additional Oversight of Remote Patient Monitoring in Medicare Is Needed,” was released on September 19.
According to a brief on the report, OIG conducted this review because Medicare broadly covers remote patient monitoring of health data for any chronic or acute condition, yet the use of remote patient monitoring has the potential to expand in the Medicare population.
The brief adds “As a result, there is an increasing need to know how remote patient monitoring is being used, including who is receiving it and for what conditions, as well as a need to identify any vulnerabilities that may limit the oversight of these services.”
Additionally, OIG says that their findings determine the need for additional oversight that remote patient monitoring is being used and billed appropriately. OIG also found that the use of remote patient monitoring in Medicare increased from 2019 to 2022.
The brief comments, “About 43 percent of enrollees who received remote patient monitoring did not receive all 3 components of it, raising questions about whether the monitoring is being used as intended.”
Further, OIG and CMS have “raised concerns about fraud related to remote patient monitoring” and “Medicare lacks key information for oversight, including who ordered the monitoring for the enrollee.”
As for what OIG recommends, the agency suggests that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) take the steps to strengthen oversight of remote patient including:
- Implementing more safeguards to ensure that remote patient monitoring is used and billed appropriately in Medicare.
- Requiring that remote patient monitoring be ordered and that information about the ordering provider be included on claims and encounter data for remote patient monitoring.
- Developing methods to find what health data are being monitored.
- Conducting provider education about billing of remote patient monitoring.
- Identifying and monitoring companies that bill for remote patient monitoring.
OIG concluded the brief by saying that “CMS concurred with or stated that it would take into consideration all our recommendations.”
