Public policy implications for using remote monitoring technology to treat diabetes.

Daily medical practice in the United States is at the threshold of a significant and permanent change. The driving force is technologies that permit remote physiological monitoring of patients who have diabetes and other chronic diseases, along with widespread access to the Internet and the adoption of email as a primary means of communicating in our society. Utilization of these technologies not only improves the quality of patient care, it also reduces the need for frequent physician office appointments, costly emergency room visits, and unnecessary hospitalizations. The Remote Monitoring Access Act of 2007 will eliminate disincentives in current Medicare rules that only provide payment for face-to-face meetings between patients and their doctors.