THE FUTURE OF REMOTE PATIENT MONITORING
Digital health advocates believe remote monitoring, the use of digital technologies to collect and relay patient data to health care professionals, has the potential to transform disease management, health outcomes, and patient care, especially for individuals with multiple chronic conditions who lack convenient access to providers. Medicare, most state Medicaid agencies, and many private health insurance plans cover remote monitoring services. For the purposes of a report from the Bipartisan Policy Center, remote monitoring is defined as an umbrella term for remote physiologic monitoring (RPM) and remote therapeutic monitoring (RTM). RPM refers to the monitoring of physiologic data, such as weight, blood glucose, or blood pressure, while RTM refers to the monitoring of patients’ self-reported nonphysiologic data, such as pain levels or medication adherence. Currently, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) limits RTM reimbursement to cases involving the respiratory system, musculoskeletal system, and cognitive behavioral therapy. Although the percentage of patients using RPM remains relatively low (594 monthly claims per 100,000 Medicare enrollees in 2021), the use of RPM increased among Medicare beneficiaries more than sixfold from 2018-2021. In part, this increase was due to CMS’ expanded coverage rules during the COVID-19 public health emergency. The Report looks broadly at ways to improve the use of remote monitoring services, ensure equitable access to these services across populations, and enhance data security and privacy standards. It can be obtained at https://bipartisanpolicy.org/download/?file=/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/BPC_Health_FutureOfRemoteMonitoring.pdf.
HEALTH CARE WORKERS’ DISCRIMINATION AGAINST PATIENTS
Discrimination against patients in health care settings on the basis of race, ethnicity, or language can have a negative impact on quality of care and health outcomes. Workers on the front line of care delivery can provide insights about the nature of this discrimination, helping to inform opportunities to address bias and unequal treatment. About half of U.S. health care workers have witnessed racial discrimination against patients and say discrimination against patients is a crisis or major problem, according to a survey released on February 15, 2024 from the Commonwealth Fund and African American Research Collaborative. Six focus groups of health care workers were followed by a survey of 3,000 health care workers across a variety of care settings. Surveyed workers, across all races, ethnicities, ages, genders, and care settings, personally witnessed discrimination against patients and consider it to be a serious problem. Younger health care workers and health care workers of color were more likely than their older or white counterparts to acknowledge witnessing this discrimination. Just under half of all health care workers indicated the discrimination causes them stress. The report is at https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2024/feb/revealing-disparities-health-care-workers-observations.
WEARABLE TECHNOLOGIES IN THE WORKPLACE
A Spotlight released on March 4, 2024 by the Government Accountability Office (GAO ) discusses how companies are deploying technologies worn on the body to try to improve safety and productivity. These items vary in size and function. Technologies such as exoskeletons, which can provide physical support to the user's body during repetitive overhead work, already are used in industrial workplaces. Yet, there are concerns about data privacy, cost, ease of use, and being tracked by the devices. Industrial uses are in four general categories: (1) supporting devices to assist workers with tasks like lifting (e.g., exoskeletons). (2) monitoring devices to alert workers to specific changes in vital signs (e.g., smart helmets); (3) training devices provide feedback on movements to help improve worker performance (e.g., augmented reality glasses); and (4) tracking devices observe the location of employees on a worksite (e.g., GPS trackers). The report is accessible at https://www.gao.gov/assets/d24107303.pdf.