A device must be FDA-listed to be reimbursed by the CMS. An FDA approval guarantees that medical equipment is safe and effective for its intended application.
FREMONT, CA: One of the major concerns for health systems' CIOs is the clinical community's unwillingness to embrace an IT transformation to adopt new care delivery models. Despite the obvious benefits of managing large chronic populations through linked devices, the medical community's lack of faith in the quality of data, particularly self-monitored and patient-reported data, remained a hurdle. Here are three ways CIOs need to implement remote patient monitoring programs:
Choose a suitable device to get reliable patient data
Many health gadgets and wearables are on the market today, but not all of them have been approved for reimbursement by the CMS. A device must be FDA-listed to be reimbursed by the CMS. An FDA approval guarantees that a medical equipment is safe and effective for its intended application. The FDA divides medical devices into three categories based on their potential for endangering human life. Depending on its categorization, a medical device must go through various regulatory processes, including a clinical trial.
Map physician workflows and win their confidence
Stakeholders and physicians from all disciplines with virtual care are involved in implementing a remote patient monitoring program in a hospital. When developing the road map for remote patient monitoring systems, physician input can assist in identifying and prioritizing specialty services. The necessity to work remotely, available cash, ROI, and the use case-mix of each department under review are all considerations that might help prioritize each specialty's services. Each specialty has its own set of use cases for which virtual visits are acceptable. Before shortlisting devices by specialty, these use cases must be evaluated.
Adopting FHIR standards for integrating data
Measurements and data from personal health devices must be delivered to caregivers via platforms that are in sync with the devices, commonly a smartphone app. Data is transferred to personal health gateways in as many formats as there are devices on the market today. Developers face difficulties due to the lack of standards, as they are forced to write code for each instance of a device. FHIR resources, also known as data packets, define the resources required to send data in a standard manner from devices to FHIR servers and then to receiving systems such as an EHR. When data from these devices is received in a consistent format and put into an EHR, it can assist a physician in diagnosing a patient thoroughly.
