Remote monitoring of patients with chronic heart failure will be reimbursed in Belgium

In December 2024, the INAMI-RIZIV Insurance Committee approved a new agreement (Convention) allowing reimbursement for remote monitoring of patients with chronic heart failure. The agreement will come into force on January 1, 2025, and will be valid until December 31, 2029.

Hospitals that meet certain eligibility criteria can apply to join the Convention. The list of approved hospitals will be published on the INAMI/RIZIV website.

The following activities are considered for remote monitoring:

• Patients measure a number of parameters at their home (e.g., weight and blood pressure). This can include pulmonary artery pressure, monitored by the implanted sensor;
• The data is transmitted to the remote monitoring team via a health app (application mobile médicale);
• The transmitted data is analyzed by software algorithms using patient-specific thresholds;
• The remote monitoring team reviews this health data, and alarms are generated on weekdays during working hours;

The health app used to transmit health data must be a CE-marked medical device and comply with applicable standards for confidentiality, information security, and data sharing in the healthcare sector.

The following patients are eligible: patients who have been hospitalized for heart failure or patients whose hospitalization was complicated by heart failure and who have an NYHA classification of II, III, or IV after stabilization of acute decompensation.

The reimbursement mechanism comprises packages or care covered via the newly introduced pseudonomenclature codes with tariffs. Some examples of codes are provided below:

• 403012-403023 “Remote monitoring for heart failure, start package – first month”
  • The package includes the prescription of remote monitoring by a specialist cardiologist; the provision of the health app and all corresponding non-invasive devices, such as the blood pressure monitor; training the patients in the use of the health app; remote monitoring during the first month;
• The package does not include implantable devices such as an invasive sensor for measuring pulmonary artery pressure, pacemakers or implantable cardiac defibrillators, and accessories that are part of the implantable device are necessary to transmit the data captured by the implant, except for the health apps.
• 403071-403082 “Monthly follow-up package for remote monitoring of heart failure with invasive monitoring of pulmonary arterial pressure, with or without monitoring of other parameters, from the second month to the sixth month”.

The list of eligible health apps (brands) is not specified by the Convention.

See the full details here (in French) and here (in Dutch).

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