Remote Therapeutic Monitoring (RTM) is a family of five codes created by the CPT Editorial Panel in October 2020 and valued by the RUC at its January 2021 meeting — Remote Therapeutic Monitoring/Treatment Management CPT codes 98975, 98976, 98977, 98980, and 98981.
Acquire consent from patient to be remotely monitor (verbal or written)
Patient syncs health data remotely using telehealth equipment
Interactive communication with patient/caregiver during a calendar month.
Create an RTM work-flow, establish documentation, and RTM billing procedure
Train qualified clinical staff to help remotely monitor patients' vitals.
Acquire consent from the patient to be remotely monitored.
Educate patients on how to measure oxygen and blood pressure health data using Connect+ to collect health data.
Patient sync and health data remotely monitor by physician/clinical staff.
Submit eligible patients for billing and get reimbursed for monthly monitoring.
CPT codes 98975, 98976, and 98977 require the RTM device to monitor at least 16 days of data per each 30-day period, in total.
Yes. RTM is designed for the management of patients using medical devices that collect non-physiological data. Data around indicators such as therapy/medication adherence, therapy/medication response, and pain level can be collected and billed under the new RTM codes.
Yes, the clinical use cases eligible for device supply reimbursement under RTM are limited. The two RTM device supply codes (98976, and 98977) are similar to the RPM device supply code (99454), but not identical.
No. Because the two RTM treatment management codes (CPT codes 98980 and 98981) are not E/M codes, they cannot be designated as care management services. This means a physician could not order and bill for RTM services while having remote-based non-physician practitioners perform the work under general supervision.
RTM requires the use of a medical device as defined under the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act (i.e., not merely a wellness device).