Remote Therapeutic Monitoring (RTM) is a family of CPT codes for reviewing self-reported data a patient generates outside sessions with software their therapist supplied. PsyBird produces that data every week and measures the time you spend on it. Whether you can bill it depends on your license, your payer, and the work you actually do each month. This page lays out all three, with the arithmetic.
The short version. On Medicare, Medicare Advantage, and many BCBS and UHC plans, one engaged patient’s monthly RTM covers PsyBird for six. Cigna and Aetna do not cover RTM at all, Medicaid rarely does, and cash-pay patients bill nothing. Without reimbursement, PsyBird is a between-session engagement and outcomes tool at the same flat $15 per patient.
| CPT | What it covers | Threshold | 2026 Medicare national |
|---|---|---|---|
| 98975 | Initial setup and patient education on the monitoring software | Once per episode of care; PsyBird asks you to document at least 20 minutes | $21.71 |
| 98978 | Supply of the monitoring software for cognitive behavioral therapy, with data | 16–30 engagement days in 30 | Contractor-priced (Novitas ~$38–45) |
| 98986 | The same supply, for a thinner month new for 2026 | 2–15 engagement days in 30 | Contractor-priced |
| 98979 | First 10–19 minutes of treatment management, with one patient interaction new for 2026 | Monthly | $26.39 |
| 98980 | First 20 minutes of treatment management, with one patient interaction | Monthly | $54.11 |
| 98981 | Each additional 20 minutes | Monthly, as accrued | ~$41 |
Only one supply code (98978 or 98986) per 30 days. 98976, 98977, 98984 and 98985 are the respiratory and musculoskeletal supply codes and do not apply. The two CBT supply codes carry no national rate: your Medicare Administrative Contractor or payer contract sets the amount, and some pay nothing. Patients owe 20% coinsurance under Medicare Part B. RTM is not telehealth: no modifier 95 or 93, place of service is your office.
| License | Medicare RTM | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Psychiatrist, psychiatric NP or PA | Yes | Staff time may count under general supervision |
| Clinical psychologist | Yes | Psychologists may bill incident-to; APA has confirmed RTM eligibility |
| Clinical social worker (LCSW) | Yes | Must personally perform the 20 minutes; no incident-to |
| MFT or mental health counselor (LPC, LMHC) | Unconfirmed | Medicare-enrolled since 2024; CMS has not addressed RTM for these types. Ask your MAC in writing before billing |
| Not Medicare-enrolled | No | Commercial and Medicaid per payer only |
Commercial payers. Cigna (policy 0563) and Aetna (CPB 1093) do not cover RTM for any indication. UnitedHealthcare covers it on some plans with prior authorization. Several BCBS plans list 98975–98981 as covered. Medicare Advantage plans must cover Part B services, subject to plan authorization. Medicaid: only California and Colorado mention RTM at all; none document it for behavioral health. Call the payer before you enroll a patient.
RTM requires that the monitoring software meet the FDA’s definition of a medical device, as opposed to a general wellness product. It does not require FDA clearance. PsyBird’s patient-facing monitoring functions (therapist-assigned exercises and plans, symptom and mood check-ins, PHQ-9 and GAD-7, and sharing that self-reported information with you) are software intended to help patients with a diagnosed condition maintain skills you assign and report back to you. We understand those functions to fall within the FDA’s device definition and within the category of low-risk software for which the FDA has said it does not intend to enforce premarket review (FDA, Policy for Device Software Functions and Mobile Medical Applications: software that helps patients with diagnosed psychiatric conditions maintain coping skills and self-manage without providing treatment suggestions). PsyBird is not FDA cleared or approved, and we make no promise that a given payer or auditor will accept it as a qualifying device; that determination is yours. Psy, the conversational assistant, is a support feature you configure, not a treatment, and is not part of the monitoring functions. A device description you can place in the chart is in the app under Settings → Billing.
Engagement days. A day counts when the patient completes at least one assigned exercise, check-in, or outcome measure. Chats with Psy and direct messages never count, however long they run. The month’s report names the supply code the days support: 98978 at 16 or more, 98986 from 2 to 15.
Your time. PsyBird accrues minutes while you actually work a patient’s file, takes measured duration from calls, and logs messages you send. Nothing is estimated. Auto-measured minutes stay pending until you review and confirm them; off-screen time you add by hand. The month’s confirmed minutes land in 98979, 98980, or 98981 by their own thresholds, and the report records the interaction you had with the patient that month. Messages you send in PsyBird, calls, and sessions all count as that interaction.
Setup. 98975 is documented once, when you enroll the patient: what you taught them, how their data reaches you, and the goals of monitoring. PsyBird asks you to confirm at least 20 minutes and will not produce the report otherwise.
Reports. Each report is e-signed by you and goes to your biller. PsyBird does not submit claims.
A Medicare patient who engages 16 or more days and gets 20 minutes of your review time bills roughly $94 that month (98978 at a typical contractor rate plus 98980), against $15 for PsyBird. Not every patient engages every month and not every payer pays, so across a mixed caseload the realistic expectation is closer to $45–70 per enrolled Medicare patient-month, and $30–50 on covering commercial plans. A practice that is mostly cash-pay or on Cigna and Aetna should not expect RTM to pay for PsyBird; a psychologist or LCSW with a Medicare-heavy caseload often will. The accounting view in the app runs this sum with your own rates, per payer, so you are reading your contract rather than an average.
PHQ-9, GAD-7 and other standardized instruments your patients complete in PsyBird can go on the superbill as CPT 96127, about $5 per instrument under Medicare and up to three per date of service. Turn it on in Settings → Billing profile; PsyBird only adds lines for instruments it recognizes as standardized, never for custom questionnaires. Many payers bundle 96127 into same-day psychotherapy and some do not pay it for every license type, so check before you count on it. Separately from the dollars, longitudinal scores are what measurement-based care and network quality programs run on.
This page is not billing, legal, or regulatory advice. Codes, thresholds, and payment amounts are our reading of published CPT descriptors and 2026 Medicare national amounts and may be incomplete, outdated, or inapplicable to your payer, locality, or license. Whether the software qualifies, whether you may bill, and whether a claim is accurate are your determinations. Reports you sign in PsyBird are your attestations. Confirm the specifics with your biller and your MAC before submitting claims.