Healthcare Insights
Remote patient monitoring procedure volumes 2019 to 2020
Remote patient monitoring (RPM) is a newer method of care delivery that leverages technology to monitor and gather clinical data on patients outside of a traditional clinical care setting.
For example, a patient with COPD could use a handheld spirometer or pulse oximeter or even a wearable device at home to monitor vitals and share with their care team. The care team can engage with patients via telehealth if vitals worsen to address the issue before needing to go to the hospital.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, RPM became a necessity for treating patients safely at home. Like with telehealth, RPM saw a drastic increase in adoption among physicians.
Remote patient monitoring procedure volumes 2019 versus 2020
| CPT code | CPT code description | 2019 procedure claims volume | 2020 procedure claims volume | Percent change | Explore dataset |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 99453 | Remote monitoring of physiologic parameter(s) (eg, weight, blood pressure, pulse oximetry, respiratory flow rate), initial; set-up and patient education on use of equipment | 13,183 | 61,159 | 363.9% | Explore |
| 99454 | Remote monitoring of physiologic parameter(s) (eg, weight, blood pressure, pulse oximetry, respiratory flow rate), initial; device(s) supply with daily recording(s) or programmed alert(s) transmission, each 30 days | 36,200 | 229,133 | 533% | Explore |
| 99457 | Remote physiologic monitoring treatment management services, 20 minutes or more of clinical staff/physician/other qualified healthcare professional time in a calendar month requiring interactive communication with the patient/caregiver during the month | 32,551 | 184,149 | 465.7% | Explore |
| 99091 | Collection and interpretation of physiologic data (eg, ECG, blood pressure, glucose monitoring) digitally stored and/or transmitted by the patient and/or caregiver to the physician or other qualified health care professional, qualified by education, training, licensure/regulation (when applicable) requiring a minimum of 30 minutes of time, each 30 days | 72,441 | 69,883 | -3.5% | Explore |
Fig. 1 Data from Definitive Healthcare’s ClaimsMx product for calendar year 2019 and 2020. Commercial claims data is sourced from multiple medical claims clearinghouses in the United States. Data is updated monthly—accessed May 2021.
CPT Code 99453 compensates providers for the initial setup and onboarding of a patient to a RPM device and CPT Code 99454 reimburses a provider for supplying the patient with the RPM device for 30 days. The increase in claims volume clearly shows more providers leveraging RPM devices with patients in 2020. Claims volume for 2021 for both codes has already surpassed claims volume for 2019 indicating that providers are continuing to leverage RPM tools with patients even as providers offices reopen and more people are vaccinated.
CPT Code 99457 compensates providers for the initial 20 minutes each month of monitoring physiologic paraments from RPM devices. CMS introduced CPT code 99458 in the 2020 to account for each additional 20 minutes per month of interactive monitoring, therefore there is no data available in 2019. The 2020 procedure claims volume for CPT 99458 in 2020 was 52,588.
The only CPT Code with a slight decrease in volume was CPT 99091 which focuses on the collection and interpretation of physiologic data transmitted digitally or remotely by the patient to the care team. The slight decrease in this use of this CPT code can be attributed to the introduction of CPT 99457 and 99458 which typically better represent the situations that require billing.
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