Georgia Medicare Remote Therapeutic Monitoring RTM (2026)

Georgia Medicare Remote Therapeutic Monitoring (RTM) is the Part B benefit that pays a therapist or psychologist to track your home-rehab, breathing, or mental-health progress between visits. It is the one remote-monitoring benefit that lets you enter your own data. If you are doing knee exercises after a joint replacement, tracking inhaler use with COPD, or working through cognitive behavioral therapy homework for depression, RTM lets the clinician watch that data, call you when adherence slips, and adjust your plan without waiting for the next appointment. You pay standard Part B cost-sharing, and the benefit is available across Georgia's major health systems and outpatient therapy networks.1

How Georgia Medicare Remote Therapeutic Monitoring Works

Remote Therapeutic Monitoring (RTM) is a Medicare Part B service that Medicare has covered since 2022. It pays a clinician to collect, review, and act on therapeutic data your care generates at home, using CPT codes in the 98975-98981 range. Like the rest of Medicare's remote-monitoring framework, it rests on Medicare's physician-services authority under Section 1861(s)(2)(B) of the Social Security Act.1

Three features make RTM distinct, and they are the reasons this benefit matters to a Georgia family:

• It covers therapeutic data. RTM watches non-physiologic data: how your musculoskeletal system is recovering, how your respiratory symptoms are trending, and how you are progressing through therapy. That is the day-to-day home work of rehab, not a vital sign.1
• It accepts data you report yourself. RTM allows patient-reported data. A pain rating you type in, a symptom you flag, or an exercise you check off all count. That is the single biggest difference from RPM, which only counts data a device transmits automatically.1
• It opens billing to therapists and psychologists. RTM can be furnished and billed by physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech-language pathologists, in addition to physicians and advanced-practice providers. Because these are the clinicians most involved in your home program, RTM lets the therapist who designed your exercises bill for the time spent monitoring them.1

The RTM code family, in plain terms

You do not bill anything yourself, but it helps to recognize what shows up on your Medicare Summary Notice:

• CPT 98975 is the one-time setup and education when you first receive the device or app.
• CPT 98976 (respiratory), 98977 (musculoskeletal), and 98978 (cognitive behavioral therapy) are the monthly device-supply codes, one per monitoring type.
• CPT 98980 is the first 20 minutes of treatment management in a calendar month, and CPT 98981 covers each additional 20 minutes.1

The three monitoring types

Musculoskeletal (CPT 98977). The most common use in Georgia. It covers joint range of motion, exercise adherence, pain, and mobility after orthopedic surgery (knee or hip replacement, rotator-cuff or spine surgery) or for chronic pain. Devices range from a motion sensor or wearable to a phone app that tracks your home exercise program.

Respiratory (CPT 98976). Covers symptom tracking, inhaler use, and breathlessness, most often for COPD between pulmonary-rehab episodes or for asthma. Devices include smart inhalers, connected peak-flow meters, and symptom-tracking apps. Note that a pulse-oximetry reading (oxygen saturation) is a vital sign and belongs to RPM, while your reported symptoms and inhaler use belong to RTM.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CPT 98978). Covers mood tracking, CBT homework, and behavioral data for depression, anxiety, or sleep problems, delivered through an FDA-cleared behavioral-health app or platform, typically overseen by a clinical psychologist.

RTM vs RPM: Which One Is It?

RTM and Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) are parallel benefits that families often confuse. Our full Georgia RPM guide covers the shared mechanics; here is the short version of what tells them apart:

• Data type. RPM covers physiologic data (blood pressure, weight, blood glucose, oxygen saturation). RTM covers therapeutic data (musculoskeletal, respiratory, and CBT status).1
• Who enters the data. RPM requires an automatic device feed. RTM allows patient-reported data.1
• Who can bill. RPM is billed by physicians and advanced-practice providers. RTM adds physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech-language pathologists.1

The mechanics they share are nearly identical: a 16-day measurement floor for the monthly device code, a 20-minute floor for treatment management, patient consent, a single billing practitioner per 30-day period, and standard Part B cost-sharing. You can receive both in the same month for different needs, for example RPM for heart-failure weight monitoring and RTM for knee-rehab tracking, as long as they are not billed for the same monitoring episode.1

What Georgia Medicare Remote Therapeutic Monitoring Costs You

RTM is covered under standard Medicare Part B cost-sharing. In 2026, once you have met the $283 annual Part B deductible, you are responsible for 20% coinsurance on the Medicare-approved amount for each RTM service.2,1

The Medicare-approved amounts for RTM codes are set each year in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and are modest per service. Because the exact dollar figures change annually and can differ by setting, confirm the current amount for a specific code with your provider's billing office or by calling 1-800-MEDICARE. What stays constant is the structure: the $283 deductible first, then 20% of the approved amount.2

Several kinds of coverage reduce or erase that coinsurance:

• Medicare Savings Programs. If you are a Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) through Georgia Medicaid, Georgia Medicaid covers your Part B deductible and coinsurance, so RTM costs you nothing. Georgia's 2026 QMB income limit is about $1,350 per month for a single person, with a resource limit of $9,950.3 Those are the federal standards, not an absolute cutoff, so someone somewhat over them should apply rather than rule themselves out.2
• Medigap. A Medicare Supplement policy typically pays the 20% coinsurance.2
• Medicare Advantage. Plans must cover what Original Medicare covers, often with a flat copay in place of the 20%; check your plan's cost-sharing.2

How to Get Georgia Medicare RTM

RTM is provider-initiated: a Georgia clinician enrolls you, so the practical path is knowing when to ask and what to confirm.

The Rules That Gate RTM Coverage

A handful of federal rules decide whether Medicare will pay for RTM in a given month. Knowing them helps you understand a bill or a denial.

The 16-day measurement rule. The monthly device-supply codes (98976, 98977, 98978) can be billed only when at least 16 days of measurements are recorded within a 30-day period. If you record fewer than 16 days, that month's device code is not billable. Days with no data do not count.1

The 20-minute treatment-management rule. CPT 98980 requires at least 20 minutes of treatment-management work in a calendar month, including at least one interactive contact with you or your caregiver. That contact can be a video visit, an audio-only phone call, or another real-time exchange, which is what makes RTM workable for rural Georgia. The 16-day rule does not apply to the treatment-management codes.1

FDA medical device requirement. The device or app used for RTM must qualify as an FDA medical device. A general-purpose consumer fitness app usually does not qualify, even if it captures useful information. Ask your clinician to confirm the platform's FDA status.

Patient consent. Medicare requires your consent at the time RTM is furnished, documented in your record, covering the service, the expected cost, your right to stop at any time, and how your data is used.1

One practitioner per 30 days. Only one practitioner may bill RTM for the same monitoring episode in a 30-day period. You keep your choice of clinician; your care team coordinates who bills.1

How RTM Fits With Your Other Medicare Services

RTM is designed to sit alongside the rest of your Medicare care, not replace it. Time counted for one service cannot also be counted for another in the same month, but the services themselves can coexist:

• RPM for a separate physiologic need (see the Georgia RPM guide).
• Chronic Care Management (CCM) for overall coordination of chronic conditions.
• Principal Care Management (PCM) for intensive single-condition management.
• Behavioral Health Integration (BHI), which pairs naturally with CBT-based RTM under 98978.
• Transitional Care Management (TCM) in the 30 days after a hospital discharge, with RTM continuing therapeutic monitoring beyond it.
• Outpatient PT, OT, and SLP plans of care, where RTM becomes one component of the therapy plan.

What Georgia Patients Should Watch For

• Fewer than 16 days of device use. If you cannot use the device consistently, the monthly device code is not billable, and the program may not make sense. Tell your clinician about connectivity or usability problems early.1
• The 20% surprise. RTM is not free under Original Medicare. Expect the 20% coinsurance unless QMB, Medigap, or an Advantage plan covers it.2
• Confusing RTM with RPM. They are different benefits. If you are entering your own therapy data, you are likely in RTM territory; if a device is auto-sending vital signs, that is RPM.
• A non-qualifying app. Confirm the platform is an FDA medical device before you rely on the benefit.
• Rural connectivity. In counties with broadband gaps, cellular-enabled devices and audio-only phone check-ins keep RTM available. Ask whether your program supports them.

Where Georgia Beneficiaries Get RTM

RTM is delivered across Georgia through hospital-affiliated therapy and rehab programs, standalone therapy networks, pulmonary-rehab programs, and behavioral-health practices.

Major Georgia health systems with outpatient therapy, pulmonary-rehab, and behavioral-health programs that support remote monitoring include Emory Healthcare, Wellstar Health System, Piedmont Healthcare, Northside Hospital, Augusta University Health, Atrium Health Navicent (Central Georgia), Memorial Health (Savannah), Phoebe Putney Health System (Southwest Georgia), and Northeast Georgia Health System. The Atlanta VA Health Care System runs its own telehealth monitoring under separate authority.

Outpatient therapy networks operating statewide include BenchMark Physical Therapy, Drayer Physical Therapy Institute, and Athletico, alongside hospital-system outpatient clinics.

Pulmonary-rehabilitation programs that transition COPD patients into respiratory RTM operate at Emory, Wellstar, Piedmont, Augusta University, Atrium Health Navicent, and Phoebe Putney.

Behavioral-health practices delivering CBT-based RTM include Emory Behavioral Health, Skyland Trail, and local psychology practices treating Medicare patients.

For rural Georgia, telehealth check-ins (both video and audio-only), cellular-enabled devices, and critical-access hospital and rural-health-clinic partnerships extend RTM into homes far from specialty care. The Georgia Telehealth Resource Center supports rural telehealth deployment.

Where to Get Help in Georgia

If you have a question about whether RTM applies to you, a charge on your Medicare Summary Notice, or a denied claim, these contacts handle Georgia Medicare directly.

Learn More

Find personalized help understanding your Georgia Medicare remote monitoring coverage at brevy.com.

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.