RPM Patient Engagement Texts: Help Patients Reach 16 Days (or at Least 2)

Medicare pays for remote physiologic monitoring (RPM) device supply at two reading thresholds in 2026. CPT 99445 covers 2 to 15 days of data in a 30-day period. CPT 99454 covers 16 to 30 days. Treatment management is billed by time: 99470 for the first 10 minutes, 99457 for the first 20, and 99458 for each additional 20. Those time codes require a live, interactive communication with the patient or caregiver. A broadcast nudge is a one-way text. It is not that communication, and sending it does not by itself create billable time. What a nudge can do is remind patients to take readings, catch a device that has gone quiet, and get patients on the phone with your care team. BloomText sends those nudges as broadcasts to a list you export from your RPM platform or EHR.

Most RPM programs lean on the device vendor's alerts and on staff phone calls. Calls work, but a nurse can only make so many in a day, and many go to voicemail. Vendor app notifications are easy to swipe away. Patients who have stopped taking readings are often the ones who have also stopped opening the app.

A text reaches the phone the patient already uses. The hard part is doing it for a few hundred patients at once without exposing PHI in a regular SMS, and without staff typing the same message over and over.

On 16 July 2026, CMS published the CY 2027 Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule. Comments closed on 14 September 2026. CMS proposed that RPM start with a face-to-face initiating visit where RPM is discussed. It proposed counting only time from clinical staff directly employed by the practice, which would end payment for RPM contracted out to third parties. It also proposed lower practice-expense inputs for the device-supply codes, including 99445 and 99454.

CMS also asked for comment on replacing the RPM codes with two monthly G-codes. The draft monitoring code would need 2 or more days of data and at least 20 minutes of treatment management with a real-time interactive communication. These are proposals and a comment request. As of 15 October 2026, CMS had not published a final CY 2027 rule. Plan for 2026 rules and watch for the final rule.

Export a CSV from your RPM platform or EHR with each patient's MRN, phone, first name, and any columns you want in the message, such as days_sent or device_name. In BloomText, open Broadcast in the sidebar and follow the three steps: Details, Recipients, Message. In Details, choose Secure text with link (can contain PHI, up to 40,000 characters) or Insecure text (can't contain PHI, up to 1,600 characters). See create a broadcast.

In Recipients, upload the CSV (up to 20,000 rows) and map its columns. Any column can become a variable. BloomText matches each row to a patient by MRN, then phone, then email. It does not change existing patient records or add duplicates. See add recipients.

In Message, write the text with variables and fallbacks, for example {{first_name | there}} or {{days_sent}}. Preview it before sending. See personalize messages. Then send now or schedule a date, time and time zone. "Time between messages" sets the pace, and messages go out one at a time, about 60 a minute at the fastest. You can pause and resume. See send and track.

Numbers on your org's opt-out list aren't texted, including patients who replied STOP. In an Insecure broadcast they show as Failed with the reason. Replies come back as private one-to-one conversations in your team inbox. BloomText does not read data from RPM devices or send texts automatically when a patient misses readings. Each round of nudges is a broadcast you start or schedule.

Broadcasts need the Patient SMS Add-on, membership in a team with an assigned phone number, and a verified account. BloomText verifies new accounts before their first broadcast. Broadcast runs in the BloomText web and desktop apps. The BAA is included on every plan, including the free plan.