Your First 90 Days With RTM | Physical Therapy Playbook

Most clinics that delay Remote Therapeutic Monitoring (RTM) adoption are not waiting for a better tool. They are waiting for a clearer path.

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The questions are familiar: How do we get our clinicians on board? What happens with billing? How do we keep patients engaged without adding more work to our team? These are not reasons to wait. They are exactly what a structured 90-day launch plan is designed to answer.

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This playbook outlines what the first three months of RTM implementation look like inside a real clinic environment, drawing on how RTM has helped physical therapy clinics increase patient accountability and generate new revenue, and what your clinic can take from their experience.

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"Clinics that treat RTM as a workflow rather than a feature are the ones that see it stick."

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Why the First 90 Days Matter

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RTM does not deliver results through adoption alone. It delivers results through consistency. The first 90 days are when clinical habits form, billing rhythms are established, and patients learn to stay connected between visits.

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Clinics that skip this ramp-up period often underutilize the tool, see low patient engagement, and miss billable thresholds before they have a chance to understand what is not working. A structured approach prevents that.

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The goal of the first 90 days is not perfection. It is momentum.

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Phase 1: Days 1–30 — Build the Foundation

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Identify your initial patient cohort

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Start with 10 to 15 patients who are strong candidates for RTM. Look for: a musculoskeletal ICD-10 diagnosis, basic technology comfort, the ability to perform exercises safely at home, and a care plan of at least 60 to 90 days.

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Starting small allows your team to build confidence without overwhelming the workflow. VCM did not launch RTM across every patient at once. They began with a targeted cohort, refined their process, and scaled from there.

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Establish your consent and documentation workflow

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Before the first patient is enrolled, every provider on your team should know how to educate patients on what RTM is and what to expect, obtain and document written or verbal consent, and record the RTM plan of care in clinical notes — including frequency, duration, and rationale.

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A simple documentation template reduces friction and ensures billing compliance from day one. EverEx provides onboarding resources to support this process, including patient-facing materials and Care Specialist bio handouts for intake.

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Set up your front desk workflow

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Patient compliance starts at checkout. Office staff play a critical role in the first phase: help the patient download the EverEx application before they leave the clinic, schedule their introductory call with the EverEx Care Specialist using the QR code on the handout, and confirm the patient understands their home exercise frequency — typically 4 to 5 times per week.

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Patients who leave without the app downloaded are unlikely to complete the step on their own. This one front desk habit protects your engagement numbers and your billing eligibility from the start.

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Phase 2: Days 31–60 — Activate the Workflow

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Let the EverEx Care Specialist do their job

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Once patients are enrolled, the EverEx Care Specialist — a licensed Doctor of Physical Therapy — takes over day-to-day monitoring. They reach out to enrolled patients to complete onboarding, follow up via phone and in-app messaging throughout the plan of care, update the referring provider on patient status and progress, and collaborate on adjustments to the home exercise program or plan of care as needed.

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The provider retains full clinical responsibility for all changes. The Care Specialist is an extension of the care team, not a replacement for it. This model is what allowed VCM to scale patient engagement without adding clinical burden to their staff.

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Establish your monthly billing rhythm

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RTM reimbursement is tied to specific activity thresholds and timing windows. The 2026 CMS updates expanded the billing framework — if you haven’t reviewed the changes yet, our breakdown of the 2026 CMS Final Rule and what it means for RTM reimbursement is worth reading before you submit your first claim.

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Here are the six RTM codes currently in effect and their national average reimbursement rates:

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CPT 98975 — Avg. $21.71 | Initial RTM set-up and patient education. Billed once per episode of care.
CPT 98985 — Avg. $51.44 | RTM device supply for musculoskeletal monitoring with 2 to 15 days of transmitted data within a 30-day period. (New in 2026)
CPT 98977 — Avg. $51.44 | RTM device supply for musculoskeletal monitoring with 16 to 30 days of transmitted data within a 30-day period.
CPT 98979 — Avg. $26.39 | RTM treatment management with 10 to 19 minutes of clinical monitoring and interactive communication per calendar month. (New in 2026)
CPT 98980 — Avg. $54.11 | RTM treatment management with 20 to 39 minutes of clinical monitoring and interactive communication per calendar month.
CPT 98981 — Avg. $41.42 | Each additional 20 minutes of RTM treatment management beyond CPT 98980, billed as needed within the same calendar month.

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*Reimbursement amounts listed represent a national average and may vary by geographic region. Always verify current rates using the CMS Physician Fee Schedule Search.

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EverEx tracks activity and surfaces ready-to-bill codes at the end of each month. Your billing team receives a summary to upload into the EMR. The system is designed to reduce administrative guesswork, not add to it.

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Monitor early engagement signals

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By the end of Month 2, you should have a clear picture of which patients are logging in consistently, whether the home exercise program aligns with patient capacity, and which elements of the front desk workflow are working and which need adjustment.

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If engagement is low, the most common cause is not patient disinterest. It is a gap in the front desk handoff or a home exercise prescription that does not match the patient’s bandwidth. Both are fixable.

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Phase 3: Days 61–90 — Optimize and Scale

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Review your data and identify patterns

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At the 60-day mark, you have enough data to evaluate the program with clarity. Look at total app logins per patient, exercise adherence rates and session completion, RTM claims submitted versus thresholds eligible, and patient-reported outcomes including pain levels and functional improvements.

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VCM patients averaged 58.7 app logins and completed 1,553 guided workouts through their RTM program. Those numbers did not happen by chance. They reflected a workflow that made it easy for patients to stay consistent and easy for the Care Specialist team to stay connected.

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Expand your enrolled cohort

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Once your team is comfortable with the core workflow, the second cohort is straightforward. The processes are documented. Providers know what to say during the consent conversation. Office staff have the handoff down. The Care Specialist relationship is established.

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Scaling RTM at this stage is not about learning something new. It is about running the same play with more patients. If you want a clear picture of the mistakes to avoid as you scale, what clinics get wrong about scaling with RTM — and how VCM avoided those pitfalls — is a useful read before you expand your cohort.

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Calculate your revenue impact

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A single patient enrolled in RTM for 90 days, with consistent engagement that meets billing thresholds, can generate meaningful reimbursement across the six RTM codes without requiring additional in-office visits. Multiply that across a cohort of 20 to 30 patients and the revenue picture becomes significant — especially for clinics managing thin margins or staffing constraints that limit visit capacity.

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The ROI is not theoretical. VCM demonstrated it in a constrained, single-location environment. If they could scale care and generate new revenue on an island with limited hiring options and seasonal population shifts, the model translates.

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"Scaling RTM at 90 days is not about learning something new. It is about running the same play with more patients."

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What VCM’s Experience Shows

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VCM did not approach RTM as a feature to test. They built it into their care model as a structured workflow, with defined roles for their clinical team, consistent front desk processes, and a clear plan for patient engagement.

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The results reflected that structure. Patients stayed engaged. Clinicians maintained visibility between visits. New revenue was generated without new hires or additional physical space.

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Their experience is not an outlier. It is a proof point for what intentional RTM implementation looks like in practice. Clinics that approach the first 90 days with the same level of intentionality tend to see similar outcomes. The tool works. The workflow is what makes it work consistently.

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The Path Forward

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RTM does not require a larger clinic, a bigger team, or a complicated technology rollout. It requires a clear plan for the first 90 days and the right support to execute it.

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EverEx was built to make that plan straightforward. From the first patient consent conversation to the end-of-month billing summary, every part of the workflow is designed to support clinicians, not add to their workload.

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Frequently Asked Questions

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How long does it take to implement RTM in a physical therapy clinic?

Most clinics can onboard their first patient cohort within 30 days. The first 90 days cover initial setup, workflow integration, and first revenue generation — with confident scaling beginning in Month 3.

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What CPT codes are used for RTM in physical therapy in 2026?

There are six active RTM CPT codes in 2026: 98975 (initial setup), 98985 (device supply, 2–15 days of transmitted data), 98977 (device supply, 16–30 days), 98979 (treatment management, 10–19 min), 98980 (treatment management, 20–39 min), and 98981 (each additional 20 min). CPT 98985 and 98979 are new codes added in the 2026 CMS Final Rule.

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Does RTM require additional clinical staff?

No. EverEx’s model uses licensed EverEx Care Specialists — Doctors of Physical Therapy — who handle day-to-day patient monitoring and follow-up on behalf of your clinic. The referring provider retains full clinical responsibility and collaborates with the Care Specialist throughout the episode of care.

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How many patients should a clinic start with for RTM?

Start with 10 to 15 patients who have a musculoskeletal ICD-10 diagnosis, basic technology comfort, the ability to safely perform exercises at home, and a care plan of at least 60 to 90 days. Starting small builds team confidence before scaling.

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Is RTM covered by Medicare?

Yes. Remote Therapeutic Monitoring CPT codes 98975–98981 are covered under Medicare’s Physician Fee Schedule. The 2026 CMS Final Rule expanded coverage with two new codes — 98985 and 98979 — increasing the revenue potential for qualifying patients.

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If you are ready to launch RTM, we offer a free 30-day onboarding accelerator to help your clinic get started with confidence. Schedule a demo to see how it works.