History and past work of DMPAG
In 2016 a gap in expertise was identified by the AMA. As such it was recommended to convene a group of experts, including physicians, industry experts and consultants who were already embedded in the digital medicine space to be an advisory group to the AMA. In 2017 the DMPAG was formed and expanded over the years to include additional expertise in regulatory and other qualified health care professionals.
The AMA DMPAG has identified barriers to digital medicine adoption and proposes comprehensive solutions on coding, payment, coverage and more. As such DMPAG has been the catalyst behind many of the coding changes including as recent as the September 2024 the CPT® Editorial Panel (Panel) meeting where changes were made to both remote physiologic monitoring and remote therapeutic monitoring to account for the change in practice parameters since the codes were originally approved for 2019 and 2022 respectively.
These CPT codes have provided holistic coding solutions that not only account for the physician/qualified health care professional work, but also the practice expense cost of clinical staff and the software/devices used in capturing these data. Along with the support of national medical specialties, the CPT Category I codes have gone through AMA/Specialty Society RVS Update Committee (RUC) valuation.
Increasing coverage requires a concerted effort by knowledgeable professionals as well as input, such as pertinent use cases and clinical data that demonstrate the efficiencies and clinical benefits of digital medicine. Digital medicine presents an opportunity to improve access and to offer cost-effective medical care to a large swath of patients with varied needs. To maximize this potential, over the past several years, the Panel has made significant progress in establishing CPT codes for digital medicine services.
Current DMPAG work
As digital medicine and AI continue to evolve, so has the American Medical Association’s (AMA) strategy. Over the years, new advisory bodies have been established, including the AI Task Force and the Digital Medicine Coding Committee (DMCC), reinforcing AMA’s leadership in critical areas related to physicians and other qualified health care professionals’ adoption of digital medicine.
With this expanded portfolio, we are refocusing the DMPAG’s work on two key areas. And with that have created two new subgroups:
- Clinical Data and Use Case Subgroup
- AI Framework for Payment Subgroup
Each subgroup will have defined deliverables. To support these two subgroups, the DMPAG will maintain its key role in advising the AMA on issues that advance strategies consistent with AMA policy that enable physicians, and their patients access to digital medicine and AI clinical services.
DMPAG and DMPAG subgroup members
Members are selected based on individual expertise and experience, not as a representative of a specialty society, institution, association or company.
Joseph C. Kvedar, MD* (DMPAG co-chair)
Dr. Kvedar is professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School, past chair of the Board of the American Telemedicine Association (ATA), and editor-in-chief of npj Digital Medicine. Dr. Kvedar is also a member of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) telehealth committee and is the author of two books on digital health: The Internet of Healthy Things and The New Mobile Age: How Technology Will Extend the Healthspan and Optimize the Lifespan.
Karen S. Rheuban, MD* (DMPAG co-chair)
Dr. Rheuban serves as professor of pediatrics (cardiology) and is the founding director of the UVA Center for Telehealth. She also serves as board chair of the Virginia Telehealth Network and is a board member of the Medical Society of Virginia. She is a past president of the American Telemedicine Association.
Michael Abramoff, MD, PhD
Dr. Abramoff is a fellowship-trained retina specialist, computer engineer, and neuroscientist. As Watzke Professor of Ophthalmology, and Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Iowa, he has >400 peer reviewed publications (h-index 86). He is founder and executive chairman of Digital Diagnostics (IDx), first in any field of medicine to get FDA clearance for autonomous AI. He developed regulatory and reimbursement pathways for autonomous AI, and randomized controlled trials that show its direct benefits on outcomes. (Subgroup member only: AI Framework for Payment Subgroup)
Neil Busis, MD
Dr. Busis is associate chair for technology and innovation and director of the Telehealth Division in the Department of Neurology at NYU Langone Health, and clinical professor of neurology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. He represents the American Academy of Neurology as primary advisor to the AMA-convened CPT Editorial Panel and is a member of the AMA Digital Medicine Coding Committee (DMCC). Dr. Busis is the current liaison between the DMCC and the AI Framework for Payment Subgroup.
Donald M. Hilty, MD, MBA
Dr. Hilty works as a professor of psychiatry at the UC Davis School of Medicine, and as chief medical officer of United Health Services Heritage Oaks Hospital, specializing in medical education, health services, and telemedicine, and as a liaison to professional organizations and the Veterans Health Administration and World Psychiatric Association to implement technology.
Peter A. Hollmann, MD
Dr. Hollmann is a geriatrician with Brown Medicine, the faculty practice of the department of medicine at Brown University in Rhode Island. He is past chair of the CPT Editorial Panel and is currently vice chair of the RBRVS Update Committee.
David J. Houghton, MD, MPH
Chair / medical director, telemedicine & digital medicine; chief, Division of Movement and Memory Disorders; vice chair, Department of Neurology, Ochsner Health System
Robert Jarrin, JD*
Jarrin is a strategic advisor on digital medicine to companies, associations, and medical organizations. Jarrin’s expertise includes CPT coding of digital medical services, RUC valuation of medical practice expense and provider work, CMS coverage and payment, FDA regulation of digital health and AI, and ASTP/ONC policies on Health IT. Jarrin holds academic adjunct faculty appointments with the Yale University School of Medicine, George Washington University School of Medicine, and Georgetown University Medical Center.
Aditi U. Joshi, MD, MSc
Dr. Joshi is chief executive officer of a global digital health strategy company, author of Telehealth Success: How to Thrive in the New Age of Remote Care and an emergency medicine physician.
Demetrios L. Kouzoukas
Partner, Team8; former director (Center for Medicare) and principal deputy administrator, Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services
John Mattison, MD
Internal medicine, critical care, hyperbaric medicine, former CMIO and leader of AI, virtual care and remote monitoring at Kaiser Permanente, UCSD Resident Scholar Responsible AI. Advisor to AI startups, Singularity University, X-Prize senior advisor.
Gregory N. Nicola, MD
Dr. Nicola serves as a panel member of the AMA RUC, board member of the American College of Radiology, as well as finance chair and board member of Hackensack Meridian Health Partners Clinically Integrated Network. (Subgroup member only: AI Framework for Payment Subgroup)
Brendan O’Leary
Independent consultant; former deputy director of the Digital Health Center of Excellence at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Andrey Ostrovsky, MD
Social Innovation Ventures, former chief medical officer of the Medicaid program
René Quashie, Esq.
René Quashie is the first-ever vice president, digital health at the Consumer Technology Association.
Peter A. Rasmussen, MD
Dr. Rasmussen is a medical director for distance health and associate professor of neurosurgery, Cerebrovascular Center at the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio
Morgan Reed
Executive director, ACT | The App Association
Ezequiel “Zeke” Silva III, MD*
Dr. Silva, an interventional radiologist, is chair of the AMA RVS Update Committee (RUC).
Laurel Sweeney
Sweeney is an independent consultant and board director with subject-matter expertise and extensive experience in health policy, reimbursement, and health economics. She provides market access and strategy expertise to investors, and medical technology and digital health companies. Sweeney is also a hospital trustee where she is chair of the board finance committee.
Vaile Wright
Wright is the inaugural senior director for the Office of Health Care Innovation at the American Psychological Association. As a licensed psychologist, researcher, and spokesperson, she develops cutting-edge strategies to harness technology and data, tackling critical health care challenges. Her work focuses on expanding access and reach, measuring care, improving efficiencies, and optimizing treatment delivery. Dr. Wright earned her PhD in counseling psychology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and is licensed in the District of Columbia.
*Member of the leadership team
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