RTM treatment-management codes are general-medicine codes — billable by physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and physical and occupational therapists, each within their state scope. Here is how each credential bills, and the rules they share.
One of the most common questions from a new practice is simply “can I bill this?” The RTM treatment-management codes are general-medicine codes, so the answer is broad: physicians (MD/DO), nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and physical and occupational therapists can all furnish and bill Remote Therapeutic Monitoring — each within their own state scope of practice. What changes from credential to credential is how the service is billed, not whether it can be.
Physicians (MD/DO), NPs, PAs, and PTs/OTs can bill RTM within their state scope. Therapists bill under their own plan of care with the GP modifier (GO for OT); physicians, NPs, and PAs bill under general medicine. Only one professional bills a given patient in a given calendar month.
RTM monitors non-physiologic, therapeutic data — musculoskeletal status, pain, function and range of motion, and adherence to a home exercise program. The setup and device-supply codes are practice-expense codes billed by the practice; the treatment-management codes are the general-medicine codes that determine who may bill. Because they are general-medicine codes, the pool of eligible billing professionals is wide — but each bills under the rules of their own credential.
Bill RTM under general medicine — no therapy modifier. The treatment-management work may be furnished incident-to under the applicable supervision rules and billed under the physician’s NPI.
NPs and PAs are themselves eligible billing professionals. They may bill under their own NPI within state scope and collaboration rules, or the work may be furnished incident-to a physician and billed under the physician’s NPI.
Clinical staff (for example, a medical assistant or RN) are never the billing professional themselves, but their management time can count and they may perform the work — including the interactive patient call — incident-to a physician or NPP under the applicable supervision. The exact incident-to and supervision requirements are worth confirming with your biller.
PTs and OTs furnish RTM under their own therapy plan of care. Three details set therapy billing apart:
Therapy RTM lines carry the GP modifier to signal the service was furnished under a physical-therapy plan of care — GO for occupational therapy. Leaving it off is a frequent, avoidable denial.
When a PTA (or OTA) furnishes part of the service, the CQ modifier applies — CO for an OTA — and payment is reduced. Confirm exactly which lines take it, and how the calculation works, with your biller.
A PT billing under their own plan of care is a separate billing professional and is not bound by the operating surgeon’s 90-day global period — so a post-op patient the surgeon can’t yet bill can often be monitored by their PT in the same window.
Whatever the credential, only one professional may bill RTM for a given patient in a given calendar month. If a surgeon and a PT both monitor the same patient, they have to decide who bills.
BoneArc enforces this for you: the monthly certification claims a one-biller lock per patient per calendar month, so a second provider certifying the same patient for the same month is blocked. You never have to police it by hand.
Yes. NPs are eligible billing professionals for RTM. They can bill under their own NPI within their state scope and collaboration rules, or the treatment-management work can be furnished incident-to a physician under supervision and billed under the physician’s NPI. Confirm the incident-to specifics with your biller.
Yes — on the same footing as NPs. A PA may bill under their own NPI within state scope, or the work may be furnished incident-to a physician and billed under the physician’s NPI.
Yes. PTs bill RTM under their own therapy plan of care and append the GP modifier (GO for OT). When a PTA or OTA furnishes part of the service, the CQ/CO modifier applies and payment is reduced.
No. The global period attaches to the operating surgeon’s fee. A PT billing under their own plan of care is a separate billing professional and isn’t bound by it, so a post-op patient whose surgeon can’t yet bill RTM can often be monitored and billed by their PT in the same window.
No. Only one professional may bill RTM for a given patient in a given calendar month. BoneArc’s certification enforces a one-biller lock per patient per calendar month.
For the full regulatory write-ups behind this guide, see Can physical therapists bill RTM?, RTM for physical therapists, and the GP and CQ modifier guide. For anything you’re unsure about — a specific rate, a modifier edge case, or a “can my PTA do this” question — email support@bonearc.com.
This is general educational information about using BoneArc, not billing or legal advice. Eligibility, coverage, coding, modifiers, and payment amounts vary by payer, MAC, locality, and your state scope of practice — confirm the specifics with your own biller.
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