In January 2022, the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule introduced five CPT codes for remote therapeutic monitoring. For rehab clinicians it was a significant change: work that many therapists were already doing informally, like checking how patients are getting on with a home program between visits, became a billable, defined service. The codes themselves are short. The confusion around them is not.
What counts as RTM
RTM covers monitoring of non-physiologic data: musculoskeletal system status, respiratory system status, therapy adherence, and therapy response. Unlike remote physiologic monitoring, the data does not have to come from a sensor. It may be self-reported by the patient, as long as it is collected through a product that meets the FDA's definition of a medical device. Software can meet that definition.
What each code covers
- 98975: initial setup and patient education on the monitoring equipment. Billed once per episode of care, and only after at least 16 days of monitoring have occurred.
- 98976 and 98977: supply of the monitoring device, billed per 30 days. 98976 covers respiratory monitoring and 98977 covers musculoskeletal. Both require data collection on at least 16 of those 30 days.
- 98980: treatment management, meaning the first 20 full minutes of clinician time in a calendar month spent reviewing data and managing the program. It requires at least one interactive communication with the patient or caregiver that month, and cannot be billed for partial time.
- 98981: each additional full 20 minutes of treatment management in the same calendar month.
Why RTM, not RPM, is the rehab framework
Remote physiologic monitoring came first, but its treatment-management codes are evaluation-and-management codes, which therapists generally cannot bill. RTM was structured differently: CMS designated the RTM codes as "sometimes therapy" codes in the 2022 final rule, which means physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech-language pathologists can order and bill them, and the services can be furnished under general supervision. One boundary to know: RTM and RPM cannot be billed for the same patient in the same period.
What a workable RTM program needs
- A way for patients to complete and log their prescribed program at home, with low enough friction that the 16-day data thresholds are realistic rather than aspirational.
- Structured data coming back (sessions, adherence, pain reports) rather than anecdotes at the next visit.
- A clinician workspace where the monthly review and the interactive communication requirement fit into a normal caseload.
- Documentation of time spent, because the treatment-management codes are time-based.
Where KineTrue fits
KineTrue was built around this loop. Therapists assign exercise programs with videos, patients complete camera-guided sessions at home, and the results (repetitions, movement quality, pain before and after) arrive in the therapist workspace alongside appointments, progress views, and messaging. That is the visibility a monitoring program depends on, in one place.
This article is education, not billing advice. Code values, payer policies, and documentation requirements change from year to year and vary by payer. Check the current CMS Physician Fee Schedule and APTA's practice advisory, and confirm specifics with your billing team before building a program around them.