As the healthcare industry moves into 2026 we continue to move from traditional reactive care to proactive, data-driven management. Staying competitive means mastering the language of digital health. This remote patient monitoring glossary serves as a definitive resource for the terms, technologies, and regulatory concepts in the remote healthcare space.
A: Advanced Care & Analytics
- Advanced Primary Care Management (APCM): A technology-driven, team-based approach that prioritizes prevention, real-time patient engagement, and data-informed care to improve chronic condition outcomes.
- Advance Care Planning (ACP): The process of making informed decisions about medical care preferences during serious illness or emergencies, ensuring patient wishes are honored even if they become unable to communicate.
- AI-Powered Clinical Pathways: Treatment plans that use real-time AI analysis within EHRs to deliver tailor-made tips and context-aware recommendations to clinicians exactly when needed.
- Analytics Dashboard: A real-time visual interface in RPM software that helps providers track, interpret, and act on health data collected from connected devices.
- Adherence Tracking: The process of monitoring how consistently patients follow their prescribed care plans, medication schedules, or device usage.
B: Behavioral & Biometric Health
- Behavioral Health Integration (BHI): Incorporating mental health services—like depression or anxiety screenings—into routine medical care, often supported by virtual interventions.
- Biometric Monitoring: The periodic or continuous tracking of key vitals (heart rate, SpO2, blood pressure, etc.) to provide a foundation for early clinical intervention.
- Billing Automation: Software tools that streamline claim generation, map CPT codes accurately, and automate compliance checks to reduce administrative burden.
- BMI Tracking: Monitoring body mass index to assess cardiovascular risk and disease progression, particularly for diabetic and geriatric patients.
C: Chronic Care & Connectivity
- Chronic conditions: Chronic diseases are defined broadly as conditions that last 1 year or more and require ongoing medical attention or limit activities of daily living or both.
- Chronic Care Management (CCM): A Medicare-supported service providing non-face-to-face care coordination for patients with two or more chronic conditions.
- CPT Codes (Current Procedural Terminology): The standardized codes used to report medical services to payers.
- Cellular Medical Devices: Health devices (e.g., blood pressure monitors, weight scales) embedded with SIM cards that transmit data in real-time without needing Wi-Fi or a smartphone.
- Clinical Decision Support (CDS): Technology features that analyze patient data to provide evidence-based alerts and risk flags to healthcare providers.
- Care Coordinator: A dedicated role responsible for bridging providers and patients, ensuring timely follow-ups, and managing medication compliance.
- Connected Device: Any electronic tool linked to the internet or a secure network, enabling real-time data exchange with a clinical platform.
D: Data & Digital Therapeutics
- Data Interoperability: The ability of different systems (like RPM software and EHRs) to exchange and use data seamlessly, often utilizing HL7 or FHIR protocols.
- Data Transmission: The digital movement of captured health data from a patient’s at-home device to the provider’s monitoring portal.
- Digital Therapeutics (DTx): Evidence-based, software-driven interventions used to prevent, manage, or treat medical disorders.
- Diagnostic Integration: The capability to pull lab reports and test results directly into the RPM dashboard for a unified view of patient health.
E & F: Engagement & Frameworks
- EHR Integration: The seamless connection between RPM software and Electronic Health Records (like Epic or Cerner) to ensure data is updated in real-time. Examples are eClinicalWorks, athenahealth, and NexGen Healthcare.
- Early Intervention Triggers: Smart alerts that react to data anomalies, prompting immediate clinical action to prevent hospitalizations.
- FHIR Protocol (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources): A modern standard for the secure and rapid exchange of electronic health records.
- Fall Detection Alerts: Smart wearables that use motion sensors to detect falls, enabling immediate emergency response for elderly or post-surgical patients.
G & H: Gateways and Health Systems
- General Supervision: A regulatory framework where clinical staff perform RPM services under a provider’s overall direction without the provider being physically present.
- Health Hub or Gateway: A central bridge device that collects data from Bluetooth peripherals and transmits it to the cloud via a cellular connection.
- Health Risk Assessment (HRA): A structured screening used to evaluate a patient’s health status and design proactive care plans.
- HEDIS Scores (Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set): A set of standardized performance measures used by health plans to track the quality of care. For 2026, HEDIS scores carry more weight in determining a plan’s financial bonuses.
- Hospital at Home: A healthcare model that provides acute-level care in a patient’s home rather than in a traditional hospital setting, heavily reliant on RPM technology.
J – M: Management & Medication
- Joint Care Pathways: Structured, condition-specific recovery programs (often orthopedic) that monitor mobility and pain levels remotely.
- Medication Therapy Management (MTM): A service that ensures patients are taking the right medications at the right time, reducing adverse drug interactions.
- Medical Necessity Documentation: The clinical justification required by CMS to prove that RPM services are essential for a patient’s care.
O – R: Outcomes & Remote Monitoring
- Outcomes-Based Care: A care model where success is measured by improvements in health metrics (e.g., stabilized blood pressure) rather than the volume of services.
- Principal Care Management (PCM): A program focused on patients with a single high-risk chronic condition, such as heart failure or diabetes.
- Qualified Healthcare Professional (QHCP): A licensed individual (MD, NP, PA) with the legal authority to provide and bill for clinical services.
- Reimbursement Rate: The pre-determined amount an insurance payer (like Medicare) pays for a specific service or CPT code.
- Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM): The use of technology to collect physiologic data (glucose, weight, BP) from patients in non-clinical settings for real-time review.
- Remote Therapeutic Monitoring (RTM): The monitoring of non-physiologic data, such as medication adherence or musculoskeletal status.
S – W: Security and Systems
- Secure Messaging: HIPAA-compliant communication features that allow private chats between patients and care teams.
- Star Ratings: A CMS quality rating system (1-5 stars) for Medicare Advantage plans. As of 2026, clinical HEDIS measures (like blood pressure control) have higher relative importance in calculating these scores.
- Telehealth: A broad category of remote clinical and non-clinical services provided via telecommunications technology (video, audio, or messaging).
- Transitional Care Management (TCM): Services provided to patients as they move from a hospital setting back to their homes to prevent readmissions.
- Value-Based Care (VBC): A reimbursement model that rewards providers for the quality and efficiency of care, rather than the quantity of visits.
- Wireless Medical Devices: Devices using radio frequency (RF) technology (like Bluetooth or Cellular) to transmit data without physical cables.
Sources:
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (Final Rule)
General Wellness and Digital Health Device Guidance (2026 Updates)
