Medicaid Home-Based Telehealth and Remote Patient Monitoring

Report Discusses Best Practices

In July, the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) released a report titled State Medicaid Best Practice: Report Patient Monitoring and Home Video Visits (the Report). In the Report, the ATA profiles four states’ patient monitoring and home video visits programs and their outcomes.

Overview

The Report mentions that 17 states currently have some form of Medicaid telehealth program, either through a federal waiver, or through demonstration projects like Money Follows the Person (MFP). The seventeen states that currently have either video conferencing, remote monitoring,

or both include: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington State, and Wisconsin. For a complete chart, see page 2 of the report, ​here.

For the Report, ATA surveyed state telehealth policies, and analyzed four “best practice models,” including those of Colorado, Kansas, New York, and Washington State. For the criteria that ATA used in assessing the policies, see page 3, here.

​ Analysis

The National Association for Care & Hospice (NAHC), as well as its affiliates the Home Care Technology Association of America (HCTAA) and the National Council  on Medicaid Home Care, supports the growing utilization of remote patient monitoring in Medicaid home care.

As the Report demonstrates, such programs are both cost-effective and contribute to greater outcomes. Home care providers should note that the Council will continue to pursue greater payments for Medicaid home care generally. The Council also calls on state associations and other stakeholders to advocate on a state level to promote an increased application and reimbursement of remote patient monitoring in Medicaid home health. Home care providers are encouraged to keep abreast of Medicaid telehealth developments, and to contact the Council with any questions or concerns.

The Council has developed an Issue Brief on Medicaid Home-Based Telehealth and Remote Patient Monitoring Best Practices. The full brief can be viewed here.

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