Benefit Updates: Mobile Medical Applications and Automatic Blood Pressure Monitors

Monday, December 4, 2023

Please note the following coverage guidelines recently implemented by TRICARE.

Automatic Blood Pressure Monitors (Effective retroactive to June 29, 2023)

TRICARE now covers automatic blood pressure monitors prescribed for patients receiving covered remote physiologic monitoring (RPM) services. Previously, TRICARE excluded automatic blood pressure monitors from coverage. Manual blood pressure monitors remain excluded. Refer to TPM, Chapter 8, Section 2.8.

Find additional details on our RPM and blood pressure monitors pages.  

Mobile Medical Applications (Effective Dec. 4, 2023)

Mobile medical applications (MMA) – also called mHealth apps, software-as-a-medical devices, and digital therapeutics – are accessed using smartwatches, tablets, smartphones, and other mobile platforms. TRICARE recently defined coverage guidelines for condition-specific health MMAs. Currently, no MMAs meet TRICARE’s requirements for coverage.

TRICARE will only cover MMAs that meet the definitions for durable medical equipment (DME) detailed in TRICARE Policy Manual (TPM), Chapter 8, Section 2.1. If at any point an MMA meets these requirements, the Defense Health Agency will update the TPM. Important: TRICARE does not cover mobile platforms (smartwatches, tablets, etc.) that do not meet DME guidelines.

For more information, visit our Mobile Medical Applications page for more details.