RPM in 2026: What the 2-to-15-Day Codes Change Operationally

Since January 1, 2026, remote physiologic monitoring has a device supply code for 2 to 15 days of data in a 30-day period (CPT 99445) alongside the existing 16-to-30-day code (99454), and a treatment management code for the first 10 minutes in a month (99470) alongside the 20-minute code (99457). CMS adopted them in the CY2026 physician fee schedule final rule (90 FR 49266). Months that used to be unbillable because a patient transmitted on 12 days, or because staff spent 15 minutes, can now be billed. That should change how programs handle short episodes, onboarding months and patients who are partly adherent, and it should not change who is enrolled.

What exactly changed?

• Device supply: 99445 for 2 to 15 days of data per 30 days; 99454 for 16 to 30 days. CMS said in the final rule that the two are "not additive" and are not a base-and-add-on pair. Bill one per period.
• Treatment management: 99470 for the first 10 minutes in a calendar month; 99457 for the first 20 minutes; 99458 for each additional 20 minutes after 99457. 99470 and 99457 are alternatives, not a stack.
• The same structure for RTM: new 2-to-15-day device codes (98984, 98985, 98986) and a 10-minute management code (98979). See RTM versus RPM.
• Interactive communication: CMS adopted the CPT language that the management codes require a live, interactive communication with the patient or caregiver.

Where do the short codes help?

• Short clinical episodes. Post-discharge blood pressure checks, medication titration over two weeks, or monitoring after a dose change.
• Onboarding months. A patient who receives a device on the 20th of a period used to produce no device supply billing for that period.
• Partly adherent patients. A patient who transmits on 10 days still produces data a clinician can act on.
• Light-touch months. A stable patient who needs a short check-in rather than 20 minutes of management.

Where is the risk?

The new codes make it easier to bill a month in which very little happened. OIG's 2024 report (OEI-02-23-00260) found that about 43 percent of enrollees who received RPM did not receive all three components, and CMS cited that finding in its CY2027 proposal to tighten the program. A program where most months land on 99445 and 99470 will draw questions about whether the monitoring is being used as intended.

CMS also signaled in the CY2027 proposed rule (91 FR 43842) that it is concerned the device supply codes may be overvalued, proposed new practice expense crosswalks, and floated replacing the 17 remote monitoring codes with four monthly G-codes that would require at least 2 days of data and 20 minutes of management including a real-time interaction every month. The short codes may not last in their current form.

How should a program use them?

• Write the clinical reason for a short episode at the start: titration, post-discharge, onboarding.
• Keep 16 days as the goal for chronic monitoring, and treat 2 to 15 days as an exception with an outreach step, not a target.
• Set an adherence trigger. Two consecutive short months should prompt a call and a decision: re-engage, change the device, or end monitoring.
• Do not move staff time to the floor. If 10 minutes is enough this month, document why.
• Keep the one-practitioner rule. Only one practitioner may bill device supply for a patient in a 30-day period.

How should a short month be documented?

Enough that a reviewer who has never met the patient can see why the month was short and what the clinician did with the data. In practice that means four entries:

• the number of days with transmitted readings, pulled from the device platform rather than typed in;
• the reason for the short period (onboarding date, hospitalization, device problem, patient choice);
• the interactive communication, with date, who spoke with the patient, and what was discussed;
• any change to the treatment plan, or a note that the data supported no change.

Which reports should run every month?

• Share of patient-months billed at 99445 versus 99454, by clinician and by condition.
• Share billed at 99470 versus 99457.
• Patients with device supply billed but no treatment management in the month.
• Patients with three or more consecutive short months.

A rising share of short codes is a signal to look at adherence and enrollment criteria, not a billing win.

Our RPM Program Setup ($5,950) includes these reports and the protocols behind them. See also setting up a remote patient monitoring program and pricing. Code-level billing questions go to White Glove Medical Billing.