The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) has filed comments in response to the Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services’ (CMS) request for information on the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation’s (CMMI) Health Plan Innovation Model Concepts.
CMMI is responsible for testing innovative payment and delivery system models that show important promise for maintaining or improving the quality of care in Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
In its comments, TIA urged CMMI to:
- Examine remote patient monitoring for congestive heart failure (CHF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and diabetes, building towards the further expansion for eligible chronic conditions identified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services based on an annual review of the evidence;
- Recognize that remote patient monitoring of patient?generated health data (PGHD) is increasingly being proven as an important aspect of any healthcare system, and to issue grants that build upon the growing body of evidence; and
- Use every opportunity to utilize these advanced technologies and work towards a more connected health care system, prioritizing technology? and platform?neutrality in CMMI program examinations.
“Remote patient monitoring of patient?generated health data (PGHD) is increasingly being proven as an important aspect of any healthcare system,” TIA said in its comments. “The known benefits of remote patient monitoring services include improved care, reduced hospitalizations, avoidance of complications and improved satisfaction, particularly for the chronically ill. A vivid example of the use of virtual chronic care management is by the Department of Veterans Affairs who reported a substantial decrease in hospital and emergency room use. There is also a growing body of potential cost savings, noted most recently by a study predicting that remote monitoring will result in savings of $36 billion globally by 2018, with North America accounting for 75% of those savings.”
