July 13, 2026
Remote Therapeutic Monitoring has become one of the most talked-about revenue and outcomes tools in outpatient physical therapy. So it’s no surprise that home health clinicians and agency owners keep asking the same question: can home health PTs use RTM with their patients?
The short answer: clinically, yes — and it can be a powerful tool between visits. But for Medicare billing, the answer depends entirely on who employs the therapist and whether the patient is on an active home health episode. Here’s how it actually works.
The Core Problem: RTM Is a Part B Code, Home Health Is Paid Under PPS
The RTM code family (CPT 98975–98981, plus the new 2026 additions) lives on the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and is billed under Part B. Home health agencies don’t bill that way — they’re paid a bundled episode rate under the Home Health Prospective Payment System (PDGM).
CMS has been consistent on this point: remote monitoring and telecommunications technology are not separately payable under the home health benefit. An agency can absolutely use RTM clinically — tracking home exercise adherence, pain trends, and functional progress between skilled visits — and report those technology costs on its cost report. What it can’t do is bill RTM CPT codes on top of the episode payment.
The practical consequence: a PT employed by a home health agency generally has no pathway to bill RTM for patients on service with that agency.
Consolidated Billing Closes the Side Door
A common follow-up question: “Fine, the agency can’t bill it — but couldn’t a private-practice PT bill RTM under Part B for that same patient?”
Usually not, and the reason is home health consolidated billing. While a patient is under an active home health plan of care, outpatient therapy services are bundled into the episode payment. Because RTM furnished by a PT is treated as a therapy service under a therapy plan of care, a Part B therapist typically can’t separately bill RTM during an open home health episode.
Physicians and non-physician practitioners are the exception. Physician services are excluded from consolidated billing, which is why RTM during a home health episode is most cleanly billable by the ordering physician — not by the therapy side.
Where RTM Does Work for PTs
None of this means RTM and home health can’t coexist. In practice, there are three models that work today:
1. The post-discharge transition. Once the patient is discharged from home health, a Part B-enrolled PT — private practice or outpatient department — can bill RTM. This is arguably the highest-value use case in all of RTM: the patient just lost their 2–3 visits per week of skilled support, they’re at peak risk of losing momentum, and RTM extends clinical oversight through exactly that gap. Home-health-to-outpatient handoffs with RTM attached are becoming a deliberate referral strategy.
2. Non-billed clinical use during the episode. Some agencies run RTM platforms during the episode without separate billing — treating it as an outcomes and efficiency tool rather than a revenue line. Under PDGM, where visit utilization directly affects margin, knowing what’s happening during the 4–6 days a week when no clinician is in the home has real operational value: better adherence, earlier problem detection, and more defensible visit planning.
3. Medicare Advantage and commercial contracts. MA plans and commercial payers set their own rules, and some will reimburse RTM in arrangements traditional Medicare won’t. If a meaningful share of your census is MA, it’s worth reading your specific contracts before assuming the Part A rules apply.
The 2026 Updates Make the Transition Play Even Stronger
The 2026 Physician Fee Schedule final rule added something home-health-adjacent providers should pay attention to: shorter-duration RTM codes. CMS finalized a new supply code covering just 2–15 days of transmitted data per 30-day period (previously 16+ days were required), and a shorter treatment-management code for 10–19 minutes of clinical time.
That change makes RTM viable for exactly the kind of episodic, transitional monitoring that surrounds a home health discharge — a two-week bridge program no longer fails the billing threshold just because it’s short.
The Bottom Line
If you’re a home health PT or agency owner, think of it this way: during the episode, RTM is a clinical and operational tool, not a billable service. After discharge, it becomes both — in the hands of a Part B provider. The practices winning with RTM in this space aren’t fighting the home health billing rules; they’re building the discharge-to-outpatient pipeline that the rules actually reward.
As always, billing rules evolve and Medicare Administrative Contractors can differ in their interpretations — confirm specifics with your MAC and compliance team before launching a program. This article is general information, not billing or legal advice.
Want to see what an RTM program looks like in practice — including post-discharge monitoring workflows? Learn more about MovementRx or explore our RTM billing resources.