RPM and Medicare in 2026: The case for documentation

Thorough documentation is essential for demonstrating patient benefit, device usage, and outcomes in remote patient monitoring programs, especially in response to concerns raised by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. While often unpopular, detailed reporting helps build a strong case to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for continued reimbursement by showcasing the program’s effectiveness and value, said Lucienne Marie Ide, MD, PhD, founder and CEO of Rimidi, a company that works with RPM, and the author of an analysis of the 2026 schedule.

Medical Economics: How would you describe the importance of documentation in RPM programs?

Lucienne Marie Ide, MD, PhD: Documentation is all of our friend, because it's really demonstrating what patients are being enrolled, what benefit they are gaining from the program, what kind of device they're using. And you know, last fall, we saw a report come out of OIG (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General) talking about RPM programs and sort of their assessment and some concerns they had, and I think a lot of those concerns can be addressed through documentation. And you know, nobody loves documentation. I know my physician colleagues may not like that I'm saying that. But the more data that's captured and reported to CMS, the better job we can do on analyzing that data and demonstrating the impact of the program. And so I think data such as what diagnosis, what kind of device and what was the outcome, is really important to build the case long term for these modalities of care to continue to be reimbursed.