Remote patient monitoring (RPM) is the use of digital technology that allows providers to monitor and assess medical and other health data from patients outside of the traditional in-person or telehealth visit structure. Information is electronically transmitted to providers for review, which allows for the management of acute and chronic health conditions by taking into account more comprehensive data.

Risk-based contracting is the act of establishing a contract between providers and payers that makes the provider (namely, the provider group) responsible for all the costs incurred in the care of empaneled health plan members. This includes not only primary care costs, but costs related to hospital visits (e.g., inpatient and emergency department), medications, and specialists. The provider is given a fixed amount of payment per member per month (PMPM) paid in advance for the delivery of all health care services to the health plan’s members, whether the patient utilizes the services or not.¹

Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) is a specific designation from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). To receive this designation, the clinic has to increase access to primary care services for patients in rural, underserved communities.

According to CDC, SDOH are “conditions in the places where people live, learn, work, and play that affect a wide range of health and quality-of-life-risks [sic] and outcomes.”¹ These factors can impact patient access to and understanding of health care. They may also impact the extent to which a patient or population is able to engage in their health care and healthy living.

Telehealth is defined as the exchange of medical information through electronic communication to improve a patient’s health.¹ Although often used interchangeably with “telemedicine,” telehealth encompasses a broader array of services and activities. Telemedicine solely describes the use of telecommunication to provide health care directly to a patient, while telehealth includes talking to a doctor live via phone or video chat, sending/receiving secure messages between providers, and remote monitoring of medical devices. Telehealth is one element of digital health, which is a broader term that includes “disruptive technologies that provide digital and objective data accessible to both caregivers and patients.”² Examples of technologies that provide digital data include wearable devices and mobile health technologies.