If you work in behavioral health, there's a good chance you've heard the term "Remote Therapeutic Monitoring" floating around conference hallways, webinars, and LinkedIn feeds over the past couple of years. But if you're like most mental health clinicians, you may still be wondering what it actually means for your practice.
Let me cut through the noise.
RTM ≠ RPM. Remote Therapeutic Monitoring (RTM) is a CMS-recognized framework that allows clinicians to monitor patient-reported data (like mood, therapy adherence, symptom changes, and behavioral patterns) outside of traditional office visits using FDA-defined digital tools. Think of it as a structured, reimbursable way to stay connected with your patients between sessions.
Here's the important part: RTM is NOT the same as Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM). RPM tracks physiological data (such as blood pressure, glucose, or heart rate) and has been a staple in primary care and chronic disease management since 2019. RTM, on the other hand, was specifically designed for non-physiological data. That distinction is what opens the door for mental health.
The codes are already here. In 2022, CMS introduced a set of CPT codes (98975 through 98981) that made RTM billable. Then, in 2023, they added CPT code 98978, a device supply code created specifically for cognitive behavioral therapy monitoring. That was a watershed moment because, for the first time, CMS created a reimbursement pathway that explicitly recognized the value of monitoring CBT-related data remotely.
So, what does this look like in practice? Imagine a patient who comes to you for anxiety. Between sessions, they use a digital tool such as an app, a mood tracker, or a structured CBT exercise platform, to record their symptoms, complete homework, and report how they're doing day to day. That data flows to you. You review it before or during sessions, enabling you to spot patterns and intervene earlier when something shifts.
That's RTM. And CMS is saying: We'll pay you for that work.
Now, I want to be clear about something. RTM doesn't replace the therapeutic relationship. It doesn't automate your clinical judgment, and it's certainly not a silver bullet. What it does is create a structured framework for something many of us already believe in: healing doesn't just happen in 50-minute increments, and what happens between sessions matters enormously.
The research backs the underlying model. A comprehensive literature review by Fortney and colleagues (2017) Jurgen Unutzer , published in Psychiatric Services, found that virtually all randomized controlled trials with consistent, timely feedback on patient-reported symptoms showed significantly improved treatment outcomes compared to infrequent or one-time screenings. The American Psychological Association has formally recognized measurement-based care, the clinical foundation of RTM, as an evidence-based practice.
So why is behavioral health lagging? While other specialties have moved quickly to adopt remote monitoring (cardiology, endocrinology, pulmonology), behavioral health has been slower to embrace it. Some of that is understandable: the technology is newer, billing codes are still evolving, and there's legitimate uncertainty about documentation requirements. A JAMA Health Forum viewpoint from researchers at Harvard's Division of Digital Psychiatry (Ekekezie Obi E. , Hartstein G. Luke Hartstein MD, MBA , & Torous, @johntorous 2023) noted that many mental health clinicians remain hesitant to invest in RTM, citing unclear documentation standards and concerns about potential CMS audits.
But here's what I'd encourage you to consider: the window of opportunity is open right now. CMS is actively refining these codes, seeking input from clinicians, and watching claims data to understand how the field uses RTM. This means early adopters are playing an active role in helping to shape future standards. It’s not just about new ways to capture revenue.
In the upcoming posts in this series, I'll walk through the specific CPT codes, revenue math, clinical workflows, and practical steps to implement RTM in a behavioral health practice. But first, I wanted to make sure we were all starting from the same page.
RTM is not a trend. It's an infrastructure shift in how mental health care is delivered, documented, and reimbursed.
The question isn't whether you should learn about it. The question is how quickly you can put it to work.
What's your experience so far? Have you explored RTM in your practice, or is this still a new territory? Drop a comment below. I'd love to hear where you are in the journey.
#RemoteTherapeuticMonitoring #BehavioralHealth #MentalHealthCare #RTM #MeasurementBasedCare #TherapistLife #DigitalHealth #CPTCodes #CMS #BetterMentalHealth #CenterforMedicareandMedicaid #Therapist #PrivatePractice #Therapists #HealthTech
REFERENCES & SOURCES
• Fortney, J.C., et al., Jürgenn Unützer M.D., M.P.H(2017). A Tipping Point for Measurement-Based Care. Psychiatric Services, 68(2), 179-188. https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ps.201500439
• Ekekezie, O., Hartstein, G.L., & Torous, J. (2023). Expanding Mental Health Care Access — Remote Therapeutic Monitoring for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. JAMA Health Forum, 4(9), e232954. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2809663
• APA Services. Measurement-Based Care. https://www.apaservices.org/practice/measurement-based-care
• CMS. Telehealth & Remote Monitoring (MLN901705). https://www.cms.gov/files/document/mln901705-telehealth-remote-monitoring.pdf
• HHS Telehealth.gov. Billing for Remote Patient Monitoring. https://telehealth.hhs.gov/providers/best-practice-guides/telehealth-and-remote-patient-monitoring/billing-remote-patient