Have you ever wondered why, despite the clear benefits for both patients and practices, patient enrollment in Chronic Care Management and Remote Monitoring Programs remains a challenge?
Patient enrollment is a complex operation that requires deliberate, documented processes to comply with eligibility requirements, regulatory guidelines, and client expectations. In addition, practice providers and staff must spend time educating patients about the program and offering them the opportunity to enroll. When staff and providers are already operating at capacity, the additional time and effort needed for systematic enrollment in virtual care programs can seem completely overwhelming and out of reach.
The good news is that it’s possible to redefine the narrative. CMS allows providers to partner with a third-party vendor to administer CCM and RPM on their behalf, bringing consistent, successful patient enrollment within reach. As you consider vendors, a comprehensive, proven enrollment program is a critical differentiating factor.
Many providers, however, decide at the outset to run virtual care in-house, dedicating staff to determine which patients are Medicare-eligible and have insurance that qualifies. Next, they must reach out to the eligibles and explain the benefits of virtual care. Only then do they sign up those who are interested and finally turn to the servicing part of the equation – the only element they really understand from the start.
Those who sign with a third-party vendor, by contrast, usually trust that partner to handle each of the above steps. Then that vendor creates the largest possible program population by contacting every eligible patient and carefully explaining how they can benefit from the program.
Outsourcing enrollment makes sense for many providers because the process is tedious work that requires refined, time-proven methodology. A successful enrollment process must identify patients who are a good fit for the program, eliminate others based on criteria (age and insurance, of course, but also diagnoses and general wellness), and start things smoothly.
At HealthXL®, we regularly hear from providers struggling with enrollment for various reasons – lack of manpower, insurance issues, confused patients, etc. – keeping their program from reaching its clinical and financial potential.
We handle enrollment very differently. Our dedicated staff do all the legwork, including calling insurers and reaching the patients themselves. Clinicians and patients alike appreciate us going the extra mile to explain and promote the program, and we’ve brought plenty of programs back to life with our thorough approach.
There are numerous other parts of virtual care that can be difficult to execute properly – device management, clinical oversight and insurer billing, for instance – but none is so easily overlooked and underestimated as enrollment. If you want to make the most of gains in patient wellness and practice profitability through CCM and/or RPM, you must commit sufficient resources to building the enrolled patient base.
Have you experienced your own problems with patient enrollment or some other critical area of virtual care? We understand, and we have built a proven solution to help you solve those challenges. Providers consistently trust us to make the most of our partnership, and we have the experience – and capacity – to give them and their patients the best possible remote care experience.
Let us show you how we can make your CCM/RPM program a success! Contact us to learn more about our full suite of virtual care services.