Thomas Ferrante on Remote Patient Monitoring Compliance – 'This is clearly on the radar'

Foley & Lardner LLP partner Thomas Ferrante commented on the rising scrutiny from Medicare watchdogs on remote patient monitoring (RPM) in the Report on Medicare Compliance article, “OIG: With Payments Skyrocketing, RPM Needs Safeguards; OIG Again Urges Incident-to Modifier,” published by the Health Care Compliance Association.

“This is clearly on the radar,” Ferrante emphasized. “If you’re an RPM provider or a hospital with RPM in affiliated medical practices, it’s important not to cut corners.” He said that, “The biggest concern for the government is people are putting patients on RPM and it’s just some sort of subscription payment and not helping patients.”

Ferrante commented that while he hopes it does not make an appearance in the proposed 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule rule as it is not comparable to an order for outside lab tests or drug prescriptions, providers should keep an eye out for an RPM order requirement when the rule issues next summer.

Ferrante added that even if providers are partnering with a vendor to deliver RPM services, they need to ensure they are vetting vendors and “not completely handing off responsibility” as the provider will bear responsibility for any potential overpayments or fraud allegations.