Every RTM code in one place
This article covers every remote therapeutic monitoring (RTM) code — what each code is, when it bills, and what it pays. RTM codes are CPT codes (the standard codes used to bill for care) that capture different elements of remote care.
The codes, one by one
CPT Code | Description | Criteria to bill | Recurrent? | Avg payment* (non-APM) |
98975 | Initial set up and education on the RTM platform | 1 - patient is educated and enrolled in SaRA | No, only eligible the first 30 days | $21.71 |
98985 | Daily monitoring for musculoskeletal system | 1 - patient engages 2-15 days in 30 day cycle | Yes | $51.44 |
98977 | Daily monitoring for musculoskeletal system | 1 - patient engages ≥ 16 days in 30 day cycle | Yes | $51.44 |
98976 | Daily monitoring for respiratory system | 1 - patient engages ≥ 16 days in 30 day cycle | Yes | $52.11 |
98979 | Reviewing and discussing RTM responses | 1 - patient engaging in RTM responses | Yes | $26.39 |
98980 | Reviewing and discussing RTM responses | 1 - patient engaging in RTM responses | Yes | $54.11 |
98981 | Reviewing and discussing RTM responses | 1 - patient engaging in RTM responses | Yes | $41.42 |
*Synchronous interaction: in-person, over the phone, or a video visit. A texting conversation does NOT count.
*Payment figures are the 2026 Medicare national amounts from the CMS physician fee schedule (non-APM). Your payer and locality vary. Suggested chargemaster amounts: $60 for 98975, $100 for the monitoring and 20-minute support codes, $90 for 98981.
The Connect code — CPT 98975
Summary:
Patient is educated on the platform;
Patient is enrolled and does not opt out;
SaRA additionally waits for the same cycle to earn a monitoring code;
98975 is billable once per episode.
In-depth:
Patients must be educated on the platform being used for monitoring, and that education belongs to the clinic. SaRA's own intro message meets the technical requirement, but the conversation you have with the patient is what makes it land — see the enrolling a patient article for how to talk to patients about RTM.
The payer-side requirement is simply that the patient is enrolled and does not opt out — there is no response requirement for this code.
SaRA is deliberately more conservative than that, and this part is our own policy rather than a payer rule: we never release a 98975 on its own. A setup code appears only when the same cycle also earns a monitoring code, which in practice means the patient engaged on at least two days. If a patient never engages that much, no 98975 appears either. We do this so you are never billing a setup code for a patient who showed no engagement at all — but if you are reconciling against payer guidance, do not expect to find this rule there.
98975 is only billable once per episode. If you are treating someone for a shoulder injury and then they present with low back pain, you could discharge the patient from the shoulder injury, unenroll the patient in SaRA, then re-enroll for the new low back pain episode. However, in that situation, it is likely best not to “rock the boat” if the patient is engaging well.
The Engage codes (CPT 98976, 98977 and 98985)
Summary:
For 98976 and 98977: patient responds on 16 unique days or more in a 30 day cycle.
For 98985: patient responds on 2-15 unique days in a 30 day cycle (lower-engagement patients that previously were not billable).
In-depth:
An engagement is defined as at least one response in a day. Note: >1 response in a single day still only counts as one engagement — the threshold counts unique days in a 30 day window. The responses need to be related to their care (your patient wishing you a happy birthday would NOT count).
By body system: 98976 = Respiratory System; 98977 / 98985 = Musculoskeletal System. SaRA does not track 98984, 98978 or 98986, so those codes never appear on your Billing page. Within a cycle you bill either the ≥16-day code or the 2-15-day code for the system, never both.
The cycles are rolling 30-day windows from enrollment, resetting on day 31 and repeating for the life of the plan of care — so a long episode of care yields several billable cycles, not one.
You never pick between them — SaRA computes it
At the end of each 30-day cycle, SaRA counts the patient's unique response days and computes the right code automatically: 2-15 days → the low-engagement code (e.g. 98985), 16+ days → the standard code (e.g. 98977).
If a patient crosses 16 days mid-cycle, SaRA flips the cycle from 98985 to 98977 on its own — the Billing page and the justification always show the current, correct code.
The patient appears in Ready to Bill when their cycle closes, exactly like a 98977 patient — the row and the billing justification simply carry the low-engagement code. Bill it in your EMR the same way (it is untimed — enter 1 minute if your EMR requires a time). Per-EMR steps: Billing RTM in my EMR?
What this means for your caseload: patients you might once have unenrolled for low engagement can still generate a billable cycle — even a couple of response days counts. Keep patients enrolled unless they truly want out.
The Support codes — CPT 98979, 98980/1
Summary: there are 3 “boxes” that must be checked in order to bill a Support code…
Provider accrues the required time over the course of a calendar month supporting the patient outside the visit (≥ 10 minutes for 98979, ≥ 20 minutes for 98980, ≥ 40 minutes for 98980 + 98981);
Provider and patient connect via a synchronous interaction;
Information gained from RTM influences clinical decision making.
In-depth:
Only patients that are enrolled in SaRA Health AND responding to messages are eligible. Even one response is enough! The patient must be enrolled in RTM!
The time can be accrued multiple ways:
Data Review: Reviewing patient responses and additional data as required by patient response, as well as time spent sending patient messages via SaRA. For example, a patient responds their HEP (home exercise program) is taking too long — the time spent reviewing the patient’s messages, checking the patient’s HEP, and responding to the patient would all count.
Phone Call: Talking with the patient on the phone (either direction). This also counts as a synchronous interaction.
Video Call: Talking with the patient on a video call (Zoom, Teams, Facetime, etc., either direction). This also counts as a synchronous interaction.
In-person interaction: exceedingly rare in outpatient clinics; most likely seen in Assisted and Independent Living. This also counts as a synchronous interaction.
You must have at least one synchronous interaction with the patient in which the RTM responses and change to the plan of care (POC) are discussed. A “synchronous” interaction can be a phone call, virtual/video visit, or a portion of your in-person visit. One such interaction in the calendar month is enough — there is no required ratio between review time and synchronous time, only a requirement that both happened.
There must be a change made to the therapy/plan of care. This does not need to be “groundbreaking”. For example, if a patient reports their HEP is taking too long and you adjust the HEP by removing an exercise, this simple change would meet the threshold.
Timed vs. untimed — and what counts as synchronous
98975 and the monitoring codes (98977, 98976, 98985) are UNTIMED codes. Many EMRs may require you to input a time when billing these. We recommend entering 1 minute.
98979, 98980, and 98981 are TIMED codes. 98979 requires ≥ 10 minutes; 98980 requires ≥ 20 minutes of RTM review plus a synchronous patient interaction; 98981 covers each additional 20 minute increment in a calendar month.
A synchronous interaction must be a phone call, virtual/video visit, or in-person interaction. A texting conversation via SaRA Health does NOT count — even if you are engaging back and forth with minimal time between messages.
The patient does NOT need a wearable device. By definition RTM data is self-reported — in fact, RTM data CANNOT be collected by a device (that would fall into a different category called remote patient monitoring).
Case examples (specific to 98980/1)
Billable Scenario:
Patient X responds to only one RTM message. Their response has you very worried so you immediately call them. You spent 1 minute reviewing their single message and 25 minutes with them on the phone. You make a change to their plan based on the updated status they indicated in the RTM response.
Billable Scenario:
Patient Y responds everyday to their messages. You review 1-2 minutes per day. After 2 weeks of enrollment you notice Patient Y is reporting their exercises are too simple. You schedule a quick virtual visit and educate them on how to advance their plan. Over the previous 2 weeks, you reviewed 18 minutes (spread out a little each day) and spent 5 minutes on a virtual visit.
NOT billable Scenario:
Patient Z is enrolled in RTM and engaging regularly. You have been reviewing consistently but notice no trends warranting changes to their POC. They come to their next visit and report a large spike in pain following a fall on stairs. This fall and symptom aggravation was never reported in RTM. You make a change to their POC in reaction to this incident.
Lessons:
There is no required ratio of time spent reviewing RTM vs synchronous interactions. There is a requirement that BOTH happened.
Just because a patient is engaging with RTM doesn’t mean any change to their POC justifies billing for 98980/1. The change must be spurred by information learned from the reviewing of the RTM responses or during the synchronous interaction (which was motivated by RTM review).
Billing-ops questions — modifiers, place of service, payer behavior — live in the RTM billing FAQ.