CMS just delivered the strongest pro RPM and CCM rule in five years, including a roughly 10 percent reimbursement lift, a new 10-minute RPM code, and a 2 to 15-day measurement code that opens up patient populations that were previously unreachable. In the same window, UnitedHealthcare announced and then postponed a January 2026 rollback that would have stripped RPM coverage.

The 2026 CMS Final Rule raised chronic care management reimbursement by roughly 10%, created a new 10-minute RPM code (CPT 99470), added APCM behavioral health add-on codes, and incorporated AI-augmented services into CPT for the first time. In parallel, the OIG launched a multi-year CCM eligibility audit, and the healthcare workforce is projected to shrink by 4 million workers by year end.

Healthcare is heading into a structural workforce shortfall that recruiting will not solve. HRSA projects a shortage of nearly 700,000 physicians and nurses by 2037, while 55 percent of healthcare employees plan to job-search in 2026. The only realistic path forward is extending the capacity of the clinicians you already have through AI.