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Remote monitoring: shorter months finally count

Two new CPT codes for 2026 let practices bill remote physiologic monitoring for patients with 2 to 15 days of readings and for the first 10 minutes of management time.

Published
Reading time
2 minutes
Written by
FizzTech billing team
Sources
3 cited

The short version

  • CPT 99445 covers device supply for 2 to 15 days of readings in 30 days. 99454 still needs 16 or more.
  • CPT 99470 covers the first 10 minutes of management time in a month, with one real-time interaction.
  • You bill 99445 or 99454 for a period, never both.
  • Counts should come from the platform's report, not a staff estimate.

Our healthcare partner, Believia for Health, has spent more than three decades in medical supplies and services, and we handle the billing side. Between us, we have seen a common remote monitoring problem from both ends: the device works, the patient takes readings, and the month still cannot be billed because it fell short of 16 days.

What changed in 2026

The 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule added two CPT codes to the remote physiologic monitoring family:

  • 99445 covers the device supply with daily recordings or programmed alert transmissions for 2 to 15 days in a 30-day period. It sits beside 99454, which still requires 16 to 30 days. You bill one or the other for a period, never both.
  • 99470 covers the first 10 minutes of treatment management time in a calendar month and requires at least one real-time interactive communication with the patient or caregiver. It sits beside 99457, which covers the first 20 minutes.

Before 2026, a patient with 12 days of readings, or a month with 15 minutes of management time, produced documentation but no billable service. Those months can now be billed, at a lower rate.

2–15 days
Readings in a 30-day period that now qualify for device supply under CPT 99445.Source: CMS

What still has to be true

  • The device has to meet the FDA definition of a medical device, and readings must be recorded and sent automatically. Numbers a patient types in do not count.
  • Reading days are counted per 30-day period, and the count has to be documented.
  • Management time has to be tracked in minutes, with the interactive communication documented.
  • Medicare allows only one practitioner to bill the device supply codes for a patient in a 30-day period.

Where these claims go wrong

The usual denial is a mismatch between the code and the count: 99454 billed for a month with 14 days, or 99457 billed with 14 minutes. The new codes remove the temptation to round up, but only if the counts are tracked honestly. Pull reading days and minutes straight from the monitoring platform's report.

Month-end check

  • Reading days taken from the platform report
  • 99445 or 99454 chosen by the count, never both
  • Management minutes totaled, with the interactive call documented
  • No second practitioner billing device supply for the same period

Sources

  1. Federal RegisterCY 2026 payment policies under the Physician Fee Schedule (final rule)
  2. Noridian MedicareRemote physiologic monitoring (RPM): 2026 E/M updates
  3. CMSPhysician Fee Schedule

These articles are general information for practice owners and managers. They are not legal, coding or compliance advice. Payer rules change and vary by plan and state, so check the current source before you act on anything here.

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