If you’re a clinician, you might be wondering, “How Does Remote Therapeutic Monitoring Work?” This article will explain how RTM works, the benefits, and how to bill for it. First, you should know that only qualified healthcare professionals can bill for RTM. Primary billers of this code are expected to be physical therapists, nurse practitioners, and physiatrists. However, any qualified provider can bill for RTM, including occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, and clinical social workers.
CPT code 98975
Physicians may submit CPT code 98975 for remote therapeutic patient monitoring to claim reimbursement for this service. The initial work associated with a new CoachCare remote patient monitoring is reported under the CPT code 98975. It includes the initial set-up of equipment, patient education, and the telehealth session. Remote therapeutic monitoring services may also be reported using CPT codes 98980 or 98981. These codes report additional 20 minutes spent with a patient or caregiver. The first twenty minutes of the service can be claimed as a CPT code, while the remaining twenty minutes can be allocated to other services provided by qualified health care professionals. Physicians must document their work to submit the appropriate code, and documentation is critical in ensuring a successful reimbursement claim.
Several different types of monitoring devices are available for remote patient monitoring. The FDA defines RTM as a medical device, and the equipment must meet certain requirements. The monitoring device must have the proper regulatory status and be approved by the FDA to qualify for reimbursement. The remote therapeutic monitoring service should not exceed 20 minutes per month for each patient. Further, the provider should ensure that the monitoring device is FDA-approved. This information can be obtained from the manufacturer of the device.
Data collection
Remote Therapeutic Monitoring (RTM) is a type of care that involves remote patient and provider monitoring. It is useful for respiratory and musculoskeletal disorders and enables closer monitoring of patient’s adherence to prescribed therapies. Remote therapeutic monitoring can improve adherence and reduce re-hospitalizations, emergency room visits, and urgent care costs. However, it is not without some risks.
While remote care for ongoing conditions is still relatively new, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released the 2022 proposed rule, which recognizes remote therapeutic monitoring as an important service. This new code set covers a wide range of data that does not fall into the “physiologic data” category of the remote physiologic monitoring code set. Among these are self-reported data and pain levels, and adherence to prescribed therapies.
Interactive communication
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently published a proposed rule that recognizes the use of interactive communication during remote therapeutic monitoring. Remote therapeutic monitoring is a new umbrella term for five specific codes that are part of treatment management services. Originally referred to as Remote Physiologic Monitoring, this new code set encompasses additional categories of non-physiologic patient data. For example, these new codes include self-reported data and information about pain, adherence to medication, and other factors.
The remote therapeutic monitoring code group is scheduled to appear in the 2022 Physician Fee Schedule and is intended to fill this gap. This new code group will allow providers to bill for remote health monitoring for treatment adherence and response. The data collected should guide a patient’s care and provide input for treatment planning. CMS encourages providers to review and comment on the proposed 2022 Physician Fee Schedule to ensure remote therapeutic monitoring services can be billed appropriately.
Billing
Billing for remote therapeutic monitoring will allow clinicians to bill patients for self-reported data via a connected device. Remote therapeutic monitoring includes medication adherence and pain levels that may be difficult to measure using existing hardware. The new codes will be available in January 2022 and will help health care providers improve their coding. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have approved the new code sets, which will expand the types of RTM services that clinicians can bill.
Remote therapeutic monitoring is a CPT code category that allows providers to bill patients remotely for non-physiological data. As a result, it is a significant development in respiratory care. In addition, its inclusion in the 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule will greatly expand the scope of remote monitoring. Remote monitoring can positively affect the care of millions of respiratory patients in the US. Billing for remote therapeutic monitoring is expected to be the same for RPM, but this is not the final word.
