In the telemedicine family we were familiar with teleconsultation, which had a great boom during the Covid-19 pandemic. A little less telemonitoring: This is remote monitoring of patient data using a connected device, such as a blood glucose sensor or an implantable cardiac prosthesis.
“Free up medical time”
Since 2014, five pathologies, including diabetes and heart failure, have benefited from the Health Insurance common law reimbursement, as part of an experiment that ends on July 1, 2013. The Ministry of Health has just recorded of its extension from this date to all patients
“France becomes the first country in the European Union to reimburse medical telemonitoring solutions that provide clinical benefit or improve the organization of care”, greets the cabinet of Minister François Braun to BFMTV.com.
“This will mean an improvement in the care and quality of life of patients who will not necessarily have to travel,” continues this same source. “For healthcare professionals, this frees up medical time for value-added acts by triggering a consultation only when needed.”
Two rebate packages
In total, some 100,000 patients could be affected, according to the Ministry of Health. Since December 31, a decree provides for two reimbursement packages: one for the “operators” who carry out the remote medical monitoring activity, such as a nurse or a doctor, the other for the manufacturer of the digital medical device.
For example, during the experiment, HF telemonitoring awarded a lump sum of €110 per patient per semester to the healthcare professional, and €110 in performance pay per patient per year, for a 20% reduction target. in hospitalizations.
90 million euros per year
On a daily basis, the chronically ill are not the only targets of this system. “We can imagine that cancer patients can answer questions on a smartphone every week, and that their level of fatigue, shortness of breath or others give them a score that reflects a clinical state,” explains the minister’s signature. “Based on this score, the health professional can trigger a consultation.”
Once implemented, the measure is expected to cost €90 million a year.
Source: BFM TV
