A Detailed Look at My New "Buddi Watch" and Medicare-Covered RPM

This Posting is inspired from my recent acquisition of a BUDDi watch from Vitalfriend.com ( My Second Posting)

 

Monitoring My Health: A Look at the "

Buddi Watch

" and Medicare-Covered RPM

Managing chronic health conditions often means frequent doctor visits and manual tracking of vital signs. The advent of remote patient monitoring (RPM) technology, like the "

Budd watch

" I recently received, is a game-changer, allowing continuous oversight of key metrics right from home.

The Benefits of Remote Monitoring

RPM devices act as a technological bridge between you and your healthcare provider. My new watch monitors three key vitals:

• Blood Pressure: Tracking daily fluctuations helps my doctor ensure my medication is properly managing my hypertension.
• Oxygen Level: Continuous pulse oximetry is crucial, especially for conditions like COPD or sleep apnea.
• Body Temperature: Consistent temperature monitoring can help catch infections or other issues early.

The data is automatically transmitted to my doctor's office, giving the clinical team real-time insights into my health status without requiring frequent in-person appointments. Studies have shown that effective RPM programs can reduce hospital admissions and improve overall health outcomes.

How Medicare Covers These Services

Medicare recognizes the value of RPM for managing conditions and provides reimbursement to healthcare providers for these services. Here’s how it generally works:

• Medically Necessary: RPM must be ordered or prescribed by a physician to help manage an acute or chronic condition.
• Automatic Data Transmission: The device must automatically upload health data to a secure platform; manual entry does not qualify.
• Regular Usage: Medicare requires data to be collected on at least 16 days out of every 30-day period for the service to be billable.
• Provider Monitoring: The service is not just the device; it includes clinical staff time (at least 20 minutes a month) dedicated to reviewing the data and coordinating care.

Important Note: Medicare does not directly pay for an individual to simply get a smartwatch. Instead, it reimburses your healthcare provider for the service of monitoring the data from an FDA-defined medical device. The provider usually supplies the device as part of the service.

A Note of Caution: Watching Out for Fraud

While my experience has been positive, government agencies like the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) have issued consumer alerts about RPM fraud schemes. Scammers may use cold calls or online ads promising "free" devices to sign up beneficiaries for services that are not medically necessary, or sometimes no service at all, and then bill Medicare fraudulently.

Here are some things to keep in mind:

• Legitimate Services Come from Your Doctor: RPM is a service ordered by your established healthcare provider, not a durable medical equipment (DME) company you randomly encounter online or over the phone.
• No Unexpected Bills: While Medicare Part B typically covers 80% of approved costs (leaving you responsible for the remaining 20% coinsurance unless you have a Medigap plan), you shouldn't be charged upfront for a "free" watch without a doctor's order and consent process.
• Verify the Source: Ensure any company you interact with is a legitimate partner of your physician's office.

The "

Buddi watch

" is a great tool, and I'm excited to use it to stay on top of my health. For others looking into RPM, the key is ensuring you are working directly with your physician and that the service is part of an established, legitimate care plan to manage your well-being.

Meanwhile, here's the response of Gaurav on first posting on my new BUDDI watch.

https://chateaudumer.blogspot.com/2025/12/continious-remote-monitoring-for.htmlv

"Thanks for the blog post, couple of quick items if you can correct would be great for our compliance. 

  

1. In you first paragraph you have mentioned "Budd" vs "BUDDI" 

2. Name of Founder you have as "Gourab" vs "Gaurav" 

3. You have it as "FDA-approved" please change that to "FDA-cleared"

4. In the personal notes you mentioned the following:

      At Our Dinner last night, I showed proudly my new Budd Watch to a fellow Resident Couple, my neighbors and Chair VolleyBall friends. They told me they have tried it for 2 weeks and were not too happy and they returned the watch. Some of the reasons they cited was that the watch woke him up in the middle of the night that affected his sleeping. He mentioned that the data (blood pressure readings)were not as accurate compared to their manual blood pressure apparatus. Both had a hard time with the watch cuff on and off mechanism. Do not Forget to read a related article on the Botton of the page on Glucose Monitoring without Needles. 

A Little bit of change:

  

a.) Please change "Budd" to "BUDDI" 

  

b.) Thanks for sharing your BUDDI experience and being such a great ambassador for the program! I wanted to address the concerns your neighbors mentioned—sounds like there might have been some misunderstandings that we can easily clear up.  

A few clarifications that might help:

On the nighttime readings: You're right that we set BUDDI to take BP every 2 hours by default. I actually asked your neighbors if they wanted me to turn off nighttime readings if it was disturbing their sleep, and they said it was fine to leave it. But here's the thing, everything is customizable! If nighttime readings are disruptive for anyone, we can easily adjust the schedule. No one should lose sleep over health monitoring! 

On the accuracy: BUDDI is FDA-cleared and clinically accurate for BP readings, but there's an important catch: you have to follow proper BP measurement position, just like at the doctor's office.

For accurate readings:

• Sit with feet flat on the ground
• Rest your arm on your lap (not on a table or raised)
• Position the BUDDI at heart level (cross your arm to your chest as shown on the box)

If you're walking around, arm raised, or sitting with your hand on the table, the readings won't be accurate, just like any BP monitor. I did mention this to your neighbors, but honestly, they ultimately said they just don't like wearing anything on their wrist, which is totally fair! BUDDI isn't for everyone, and we respect that.

On the cuff mechanism: We've actually already improved the strap design to make it more seamless based on early feedback! The newer straps are much easier to use. And here's something cool: we have 99-year-old residents wearing BUDDI daily with no issues, so we know it can work for a wide range of people. The new strap is coming on Feb, 2025 and I had mentioned that to your 2 neighbor couple.

The bigger picture: What excites me most is what your neighbors might have missed: this is revolutionary healthcare. For the first time ever, doctors are proactively monitoring your health 24/7 and calling YOU to discuss what they're seeing in your data. That's next-level care that's never been available before, especially at no cost through Medicare.

Plus, everyone enrolled now gets 100% free upgrades to our next-generation BUDDI with fall detection and other advanced features. We're constantly improving based on feedback like this!

Bottom line: BUDDI isn't perfect for everyone (especially folks who don't want to wear anything on their wrist), but for those who embrace it, the health insights and proactive care are game-changing. I'm so glad YOU're loving it and sharing your experience with neighbors! In the end your neighbors mentioned the real reason for returning the BUDDI was they don't like to wear anything on your wrist, they are not used to wearing watches all the time. I can only tell the benefits but cannot force people to wear if they don't see the health benefit.

Thanks again for being such an enthusiastic BUDDI advocate! Keep spreading the word, and let me know if you ever have questions or want to adjust any settings. 

  

Regards, 

- Gaurav 

  

-- 

Gaurav Kohli

Founder & CEO

VitalFriend Inc.

415-316-6891

www.vitalfriend.com

LinkedIn Profile

Finally, Do you Know that... 

Last, but Not Least, here are five of the top news headlines today — December 7, 2025:

• 🇺🇦 Russian missile and drone strikes kill at least one person in Ukraine as U.S. and Ukrainian officials conclude another round of diplomatic talks. ABC News

• 🇺🇸 The U.S. has deported 55 Iranian nationals, the second such group in recent months under current immigration policy, according to Iran’s foreign ministry. Reuters

• 🏛️ Tensions rise as U.S. lawmakers demand the public release of video showing a controversial military “boat strike” that reportedly killed suspected smugglers, a move that could challenge the credibility of recent operations. ABC News+1

• 🌐 Global central bankers including the Federal Reserve are expected to make major policy remarks this week, with market watchers anticipating possible interest-rate changes. Financial Times

• 📚 A year-end analysis of the U.S. higher-education sector highlights sweeping changes under the current presidential administration from funding cuts to new regulations affecting admissions, research, and campus policies. Forbes