The most promising healthcare advancement to appear in modern times is Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM). It helps providers monitor real-time vitals, intervene early, and avoid unnecessary hospital visits. The technology is sound, and the reimbursement model is established, but many RPM programs stumble in the areas that really count, and that’s patient engagement.
If patients don’t actually use the tools supplied to them, regardless of how good the devices and dashboards are, RPM will not work. In reality, without consistent patient participation, RPM is simply another underutilized system. That’s why today, engagement and compliance head every serious RPM strategy.
Not only are vendors like TelliHealth stepping up and offering FDA-approved, plug-and-play RPM device plug-and-play supporting providers to ensure that patients are actually using them. It’s not hardware anymore, it’s about adoption, it’s about ensuring we can get people to change their behaviors.
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The Engagement Problem in RPM
The biggest assumption in the world of healthcare tech is that patients will use whatever you give them. That’s rarely the case. Engineering and clinical folks from many RPM programs do not have a behavioral expert designing their programs. Too often, they overlook the day-to-day realities that patients face: confusion about the device, forgetfulness, lack of internet access or even just a lack of motivation.
Imagine one in which a hypertensive patient is part of their RPM program and receives a blood pressure monitor. It works perfectly. If that patient forgets to take readings or doesn’t know why it matters, though, the whole program becomes moot. The technology is irrelevant without compliance.
This isn’t just a minor issue. Up to 40% of patients will stop using their RPM devices in the first 90 days and engagement plummets if the device doesn’t simply fit with their day-to-day. That’s a huge missed opportunity both clinically and financially.
What Drives Patient Engagement?
There are a few things all successful RPM programs have in common when it comes to keeping patients engaged.
First, simplicity wins. Ideally, the devices need to be easy to use, with no setup or configuration. It is particularly worth mentioning in this respect for older people or people without experience in tech.
Second, we stakeholders, especially end users, need to clearly understand why RPM matters. Patients need to understand that their data is continuously monitored and not skipping readings is not simply a tech gaffé, it’s a gap in their care. The providers who spend time educating patients on why RPM is valuable tend to have far higher engagement.
Third, two-way feedback is crucial. When patients take daily readings and nothing is said, motivation falls. If they get quick responses (a check in call after a check-in reading, for instance or a “thanks for your u, update, all looks good” box checked off), they are more likely to stay connected. RPM works well when it’s not tainted with a notion of ‘doing a job’, instead it works with a relationship.
The Financial Impact of Patient Compliance
From a revenue standpoint, engagement isn’t optional. To qualify for a reimbursement, many Medicare and most payers require a minimum number of readings a month. And if a patient is only taking a read once or twice, that’s revenue I’m losing on that patient.
More importantly, non-compliant patients don’t see the clinical benefits. And the result is higher tuition rates, more emergency room visits, and ultimately worse outcomes. Even a small drop in engagement with hundreds of patients is tens of thousands of dollars in lost billable opportunity and care designers for providers running RPM at scale.
That’s why there are more and more RPM vendors with full-service models: they don’t just hand you the device, they help you launch patients and follow up with them afterward. For example, telehealth onboards clinics for seamless onboarding, and continuous patient support to eliminate high dropout rates and decrease the number of no-shows which improves outcomes.
Behavioral Nudges and Automation in RPM
Growing interest exists in using behavioral science to increase compliance in RPM programs. A simple nudge like reminder texts, progress tracking dashboards, or short motivational messages can do more to encourage a change in behavior than you might expect.
For example, a diabetic patient might get a morning message: “Check-in quick, please take your glucose reading today so we can stay on top of your care.” Specifically, these nudges, all the more when taken up to a personalization level, associate the patient to a care loop, rather than to a polluted sending of data in a black hole.
And some platforms such as Fitbit, are also exploring gamification in which patients receive rewards or recognition for regular use. This is not the approach for all demographics, but has promise with younger patients or those with chronic but managed conditions, like asthma.
Automation is another powerful tool. If patients don’t participate for multiple days, platforms can auto-flag low compliance and trigger outreach from staff, etc., up to and including case managers. We are aiming for very early intervention before they become disengaged before it’s permanent.
Conclusion
To get the full value out of RPM programs providers have to move beyond treating engagement as an afterthought, it has to be a core metric. Clinical technology in the world is still best without patient participation. That’s the uncomfortable truth.
