Providers see remote monitoring in new light

YARMOUTH, Maine - Remote monitoring technology may be commonplace for home sleep therapy but it's also becoming more common for other therapies and for other uses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent HME Newspoll.

Right behind CPAP devices in its use: ventilators and, increasingly, oxygen concentrators, respondents say.

“We use remote monitoring for all PAP therapy and ventilators (if they have the capabilities),” wrote Sean Denning of Corner Home Medical in Minnesota, one of the 91% of respondents who say they provide devices with remote monitoring technology. “We're also moving to more oxygen devices that will also be monitored remotely.”

Memorial Home Services in Illinois also uses remote monitoring in CPAP devices and vents and is now putting the wheels in motion to leverage the technology for oxygen, as well.

“We have purchased technology to begin using remote oxygen equipment monitoring but have not started that yet,” wrote Lori Valentine.

Of course, providers were pushed to leverage remote monitoring in CPAP devices several years ago, due to Medicare's requirement that they show patient compliance for continued reimbursement.

“We do not have a choice: Insurances were on remote monitoring long before COVID,” wrote one respondent. “If providers want to bill certain insurances, you need access to patient data.”

Even for CPAP devices, though, respondents say they're now using remote monitoring for more than just compliance.

“We remote monitor all of our PAP devices,” wrote Lynn Allen of The PromptCare Companies in New Jersey. “We did prior to COVID, primarily for compliance purposes, but now we utilize the technology and either a video chat or phone call to follow up on the patient remotely.”