Remote Therapeutic Monitoring for Physical Therapy: 2026 CPT Codes, Billing Rules, and What Changed

What is remote therapeutic monitoring in physical therapy?

Remote therapeutic monitoring (RTM) is a Medicare-recognised service that lets physical therapists monitor a patient's therapy data between visits and bill for it. Unlike remote physiologic monitoring (RPM), which tracks vital signs such as blood pressure or glucose, RTM tracks non-physiologic therapy data: home-exercise adherence, pain levels, functional status, and response to treatment. CMS introduced the first RTM codes in 2022 and expanded the code set significantly for 2026. For a physical therapy clinic, RTM turns the work already happening around a home exercise program: prescribing, monitoring adherence, and adjusting the plan. RTM turns that work into a reimbursable service.

RTM is classified by CMS as a "sometimes therapy" service. When it is delivered under an outpatient therapy plan of care, it counts toward the annual therapy threshold, but the Multiple Procedure Payment Reduction does not apply to it.

What is the difference between RTM and RPM?

The difference between remote therapeutic monitoring (RTM) and remote physiologic monitoring (RPM) is the type of data and who can bill it. RPM monitors physiologic data such as blood pressure, weight, glucose, and pulse oximetry, and that data must be collected and transmitted automatically by an FDA-defined medical device. The patient cannot key it in by hand. RTM monitors non-physiologic data such as home-exercise adherence, pain levels, functional status, and therapy response, and that data can be self-reported by the patient through a software application.

For a physical therapy clinic the distinction matters for two practical reasons. First, RTM is one of the few Medicare remote-care programmes that physical therapists and occupational therapists can bill in their own right, whereas RPM is generally limited to physicians and certain non-physician practitioners. Second, because RTM accepts self-reported data through software, a home-exercise app qualifies as the monitoring "device." That is exactly why RTM, not RPM, is the programme built for physical therapy.

RTM and RPM cannot be billed together for the same clinical parameter in the same month. They can be billed for the same patient only when they monitor genuinely different parameters, and the documentation has to show that separation clearly.

What are the RTM CPT codes for physical therapy in 2026?

There are eight RTM CPT codes in 2026, and six of them matter to musculoskeletal physical therapy. They split into two groups: device-supply codes (the technology and data transmission) and treatment-management codes (the clinician's time reviewing data and managing care).

National rates are illustrative and locality-adjusted; the 2026 conversion factor is $33.40 (non-APM). Confirm your exact reimbursement against the CMS Medicare Physician Fee Schedule look-up tool.

What changed for RTM in 2026?

CMS added three new RTM codes for 2026: 98985 (MSK device supply, 2–15 days), 98984 (respiratory device supply, 2–15 days), and 98979 (treatment management, 10–19 minutes). The change that matters most for physical therapy is the lower engagement threshold. Before 2026, a device-supply code required at least 16 days of data in a 30-day period, and treatment management started at 20 minutes. That created an all-or-nothing cliff: a patient who transmitted data for 12 days, or a month where you spent 14 minutes managing care, was unbillable.

The 2026 codes fill in the shorter durations. CPT 98985 now covers MSK device supply for 2–15 days, sitting underneath the existing 16–30 day code 98977. CPT 98979 now covers 10–19 minutes of treatment management, sitting underneath the 20-minute code 98980. For a clinic, that means lower-engagement patients who previously generated nothing can now be billed, recovering revenue that used to be lost.

How do the RTM codes fit together in a month?

The codes are non-additive, which means you bill one device-supply code and one base treatment-management code per period. The pairs are mutually exclusive, and getting this wrong is the most common cause of denied RTM claims.

The device-supply pair is mutually exclusive: bill 98985 for a 2–15 day month or 98977 for a 16–30 day month, never both for the same patient in the same 30-day period. The treatment-management pair is mutually exclusive in the same way: bill 98979 for 10–19 minutes or 98980 for 20+ minutes, never both in the same calendar month. CPT 98981 is an add-on that requires 98980 as its base, so it cannot be billed on top of 98979.

One timing detail catches clinics out: device-supply codes are billed per 30-day episode of care, while treatment-management codes are billed per calendar month, and those two windows do not always line up.

What modifiers do physical therapists need for RTM?

RTM services billed by a physical therapist require a therapy modifier because they are furnished under a therapy plan of care. Use GP for physical therapist services, GO for occupational therapy, and GN for speech-language pathology.

A second modifier rule applies when an assistant is involved. When CPT 98975, 98979, 98980, or 98981 is furnished in whole or in part by a physical therapist assistant or occupational therapy assistant, the de minimis standard applies and the CQ or CO modifier is required. The device-supply codes 98985 and 98977 are exempt from the de minimis standard.

Can a physical therapist assistant bill RTM?

A physical therapist assistant does not bill RTM in their own name, but a PTA can furnish parts of the service under a physical therapist's supervision. Since 1 January 2025, Medicare allows PTAs in private practice to work under general supervision for applicable outpatient therapy services, which means the supervising therapist does not have to be physically present while the PTA reviews data or communicates with the patient. The PTA's work is billed under the supervising therapist, who remains responsible for the plan of care.

When a PTA furnishes the clinical-management codes (98975, 98979, 98980, or 98981) in whole or in part, the de minimis 10% standard applies and the CQ modifier must be appended (CO for an occupational therapy assistant). The device-supply codes 98977 and 98985 are exempt, so a PTA can help with device onboarding and data-transmission setup without triggering the modifier. One more rule governs the month: only one practitioner can bill the RTM treatment-management codes for a given patient in a calendar month, even if more than one clinician was involved or more than one device was supplied.

What are the requirements to bill RTM?

RTM has three core requirements that have to be met before a claim is clean. First, the patient must be enrolled and educated on the device, which is what 98975 covers. Second, sufficient monitoring data has to be transmitted in the period: 2–15 days for 98985 or 16–30 days for 98977. Third, the treatment-management codes 98979, 98980, and 98981 require at least one real-time interactive communication with the patient or caregiver during the calendar month, and an asynchronous message does not satisfy this.

Only unique calendar dates count toward the day threshold. A patient who transmits data several times on the same day still counts as one day.

Does RTM require a connected device and software?

Yes. RTM is built around a device or software platform that captures therapy data and transmits it to the clinician. In physical therapy that is rarely a hardware sensor and almost always an app: the patient follows their prescribed exercises in a patient-facing app, logs adherence, pain, and progress, and that data flows back to the therapist to review. The data the therapist reviews is what supports the treatment-management codes, so the quality of the home exercise program and adherence tracking is what makes an RTM programme work clinically and stand up to billing scrutiny.

This is the practical link between RTM and the tools a clinic already uses. A platform with a strong exercise library, a patient app, and adherence and outcome tracking already captures most of what RTM monitoring needs.

Is RTM available on Physitrack?

Yes. Remote therapeutic monitoring is live and billable on Physitrack. The platform already provides the foundations RTM depends on: a large exercise library, a patient app (PhysiApp) for adherence and progress tracking, and outcome-measure tracking. The monitoring data that supports the treatment-management codes is captured in the same workflow a clinic already uses to prescribe and follow home exercise programmes. For a clinic adding RTM as a billable service, that means the exercise-prescription tool and the monitoring tool are one system rather than a separate device bolted on.

Key takeaways

RTM lets physical therapy clinics bill for the monitoring they already do between visits. The 2026 code set added shorter-duration codes (98985 and 98979) that remove the old all-or-nothing billing cliff and open revenue from lower-engagement patients. The codes are non-additive and the pairs are mutually exclusive, so disciplined code selection is what keeps claims clean. And because RTM runs on the same exercise-prescription and adherence-tracking tools a clinic already uses, the platform you prescribe home exercise programs through is the natural foundation for an RTM programme.