The Connected Health Initiative (CHI) was proud to represent the digital health community’s consensus in addressing concerns raised by Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs), through their Multi-Jurisdictional Contractor Advisory Committee (mjCAC), about the efficacy of Remote Physiologic Monitoring (RPM) and Remote Therapeutic Monitoring (RTM) for non-implantable devices. Today’s announcement that MACs Novitas Solutions and First Coast Service Options will not be pursuing a new Local Coverage Determination (LCD) for RPM and RTM for non-implantable devices is a welcome development for the CHI community and is in agreement with the strong evidence that we have consistently offered demonstrating that RPM and RTM improve outcomes, reduce costs, advance population health management, and augment the caregiver experience.
Before the February 28 mjCAC meeting where the effectiveness of RPM and RTM was discussed, CHI led the charge in ensuring that mjCAC would be more inclusive in its engagement with affected stakeholders. This request from CHI resulted in the inclusion of additional subject matter experts to share experiences and data regarding the impacts of RPM and RTM considering the potential for future coverage determinations. At MACs’ request, CHI also provided the latest clinical evidence to inform their path forward on RPM and RTM. The decision today by MACs Novitas Solutions and First Coast Service Options not to pursue a new local coverage determination for RPM and RTM is consistent with these services’ established and growing utility in equitably addressing a wide range of acute and chronic condition use cases.
While today’s development is positive, much more work remains to be done to ensure that policy decisions impacting digital health are made by other MACs, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Medicaid authorities, and Congress. Building on its evidence base constructed to inform policymaker discussions on RPM and RTM, CHI will be launching a new digital health evidence resource, vetted by clinical experts to the highest standards, where broad input and evidence will be collected and accessible by all.
