The Big Picture:
Why is CMS doing this?
While this program may seem too good to be true for primary care physicians who are used to being underpaid relative to their specialist peers, this actually makes a lot of sense from a macro level and may actually do a lot to protect the solvency of our nation. Policymakers with AMA and CMS have seen rapid growth in Medicare and Medicaid spending, totaling almost $1.3 trillion in 2017, up substantially since 2007, that is continuing to rise without some form of rapid technology-based innovation, these expenditures will continue to grow as the baby boomers continue to age, and will pile on even more to an already out-of-control national debt.
CMS knows that affordable new wireless remote monitoring technologies exist that can help keep stay in their homes longer and stay out of the hospital more and initial results have been promising. These technologies have just not had enough reimbursement attached to them to make financial sense for most physicians - until now. The leaders at CMS should be commended in this case for supporting and driving innovation. While this new mechanism creates an enormous new financial opportunity for certain types of providers (e.g. primary care providers) it is expected to help to reduce overall medical spending as a whole. Furthermore, innovation in this field will now accelerate even faster with more direct financial support by CMS that will drive more rapid adoption by physicians as well as more investment by technology providers.
