Physical Therapy Billing · CY2026 MPFS

RTM is a recurring monthly line. Most PT clinics still bill zero of it.

Remote Therapeutic Monitoring pays a physical therapist to watch a patient's home exercise adherence and pain between visits. The codes have existed since 2022. The setup code is 98975. The device and time thresholds are the whole game, and this is where the revenue quietly leaks.

Recurring line, per enrolled patient, per month

98980
+ 98977

A treatment-management unit plus a device-supply unit that resets every calendar month a patient stays enrolled.

Billable by PTs · not just physicians

The short answer

If your patients do home exercise programs, you already have an RTM panel. You just are not billing it.

Under the CY2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, physical therapists in private practice can furnish and bill Remote Therapeutic Monitoring for musculoskeletal patients. You bill a one-time setup (98975), a monthly device-supply code once 16 days of data land in a 30-day window (98977), and monthly management time in 20-minute units (98980, then 98981). The recurring codes are the ones clinics forget to turn on.

The four codes that matter for MSK

One is one-time. Two of them recur every single month.

RTM has six CPT codes. For a physical therapy practice managing musculoskeletal conditions, these four carry the money. The respiratory device supply code (98976) and CBT device supply code (98978) sit outside the typical PT scope.

98975

Setup + education

Initial set-up and patient education on use of the monitoring equipment.

Bill once per episode of care.

98977

Device supply · MSK

Supply of device for monitoring musculoskeletal system, each 30 days.

Requires 16 days of data in 30. Recurs monthly.

98980

Management · first 20 min

RTM treatment management, first 20 minutes of clinician time in a calendar month.

At least one interactive communication. Recurs monthly.

98981

Management · each +20 min

Each additional 20 minutes of RTM treatment management in the month.

Add-on to 98980. Stacks with time.

What has to be true before you bill

The thresholds are the compliance line. Miss one and the claim is not payable.

Order + plan of care

RTM is tied to the therapy plan of care. The therapist establishes it; monitoring supports the treatment goals in that POC.

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Setup + educate

Enroll the patient, set up the device or app, teach its use. That first-episode step is 98975.

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16 days of data / 30

The device-supply code 98977 is not billable until at least 16 days of monitoring data are recorded across a 30-day period.

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20 minutes + a conversation

98980 needs 20 minutes of management time in the calendar month and at least one interactive communication with the patient.

The three PT-specific rules that sink RTM claims

RTM counts toward therapy limits and inherits therapy modifiers. Bill it like it doesn't and you invite recoupment.

Modifier KX

RTM counts toward the therapy threshold

RTM is a therapy service, so its allowed amount accrues against the annual per-beneficiary KX modifier threshold for PT and SLP combined. Above the CY2026 threshold, append KX to attest the service is medically necessary, or the claim denies.

CY2026 MPFS · therapy KX threshold

Modifier CQ

PTA involvement triggers the reduction

When a physical therapist assistant furnishes the RTM service in whole or in part, the CQ modifier applies and Medicare pays the reduced assistant rate (85% of the fee schedule amount). Track who did the monitoring minutes, not just who signed.

Section 1834(v) · CQ assistant modifier

Plan of care

No POC link, no coverage

RTM must be furnished under an established plan of care and support the therapy goals in it. The monitoring data has to inform treatment. Documentation that ties readings and communications back to the POC is what survives an audit.

Medicare therapy plan-of-care requirements

The recurring stack, one enrolled patient

Stack the codes across a full episode and you see why the empty line stings.

The bars below are an illustrative model, not published locality rates. RTM payment is set each year by the CY2026 MPFS and varies by your geographic locality, so plug in your own allowed amounts. What the shape shows is the structure: setup happens once, the shaded codes repeat every month a patient stays enrolled.

// Illustrative structure only. Rates vary by CY2026 MPFS locality. Use your own allowed amounts.

98975 setup once

98977 device ×3 mo

98980 mgmt ×3 mo

98981 +20 min as earned

Per patient, per episode, the recurring codes do the lifting 3× the monthly stack

The empty line, in plain terms

Same clinical work. Two different revenue outcomes.

The clinic that "does home exercise programs"

Prescribes the HEP, hopes for adherence
No enrollment, no setup code captured
Between-visit check-ins go undocumented and unbilled
16-day data windows never tracked
Management minutes vanish into "good care"

The clinic that turned RTM on

Enrolls eligible MSK patients under the POC
Bills 98975 once at setup
Captures 98977 when 16 days of data land
Logs management time for 98980 / 98981
Applies KX and CQ correctly, so claims hold up

ASP-RCM · Physical Therapy Billing Services

We build the RTM workflow, then bill it clean.

Turning RTM on is not a coding trick. It is enrollment logic, device-data tracking against the 16-day rule, management-time capture, and modifier discipline on KX and CQ so nothing recoups later. That is exactly the therapy revenue-cycle work ASP-RCM runs for PT and OT practices: the empty line, filled and defensible.

Map your RTM revenue line →

Guidelines referenced: CY2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) Final Rule, Remote Therapeutic Monitoring (CPT 98975, 98976, 98977, 98978, 98980, 98981); Medicare therapy KX modifier threshold and targeted medical review process; CQ physical therapist assistant modifier under Section 1834(v) of the Social Security Act; Medicare outpatient therapy plan-of-care and certification requirements.

Note: Revenue figures on this page are illustrative modeling of code structure, not published payment amounts. RTM rates are set annually by the CY2026 MPFS and vary by geographic locality. Verify current allowed amounts for your locality before enrollment.