Digital, remote monitoring & care management

98968 - RVUs & Medicare payment (2026)

Telephone assessment by qualified nonphysician, 21-30 minutes.

Component	Non-facility	Facility
Work RVU	0.75	0.75
Practice expense RVU	0.27	0.10
Malpractice RVU	0.02	0.02
Total RVUs	1.04	0.87
National payment (CF $33.4009)	$34.74	$29.06
Qualifying APM payment (CF $33.5675)	$34.91	$29.20

How 98968 payment varies by locality

Medicare adjusts payment with geographic practice cost indices, so the same code pays differently across the 109 fee schedule localities. In 2026, non-facility payment for 98968 ranges from $33.14 in Arkansas (AR) to $47.55 in Alaska (AK); calculate 98968 for your locality.

Alaska (AK) $47.55 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (CA) $41.17 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (CA) $41.08 San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley (CA) $40.45 San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley (CA) $40.43 Napa (CA) $38.85 Vallejo (CA) $38.82 NYC Suburbs/Long Island (NY) $38.62 National average $34.74 … 97 more localities between … Rest Of Missouri (MO) $33.48 Alabama (AL) $33.32 Mississippi (MS) $33.31 Arkansas (AR) $33.14

Non-facility payment for 98968 in the 2026 fee schedule ($33.4009 conversion factor), before sequestration. Gray bar = national average.

Global period: XXX

No global period: the global surgery concept does not apply to this code.

Related codes - digital, remote monitoring & care management

99421 · online digital e/m, 5-10 minutes over 7 days
99422 · online digital e/m, 11-20 minutes over 7 days
99423 · online digital e/m, 21+ minutes over 7 days
98966 · telephone assessment by qualified nonphysician, 5-10 minutes
98967 · telephone assessment by qualified nonphysician, 11-20 minutes
99453 · remote physiologic monitoring, setup and patient education
99454 · remote physiologic monitoring, device supply per 30 days
99457 · remote physiologic monitoring management, first 20 minutes/month
99458 · remote physiologic monitoring management, each additional 20 minutes
98975 · remote therapeutic monitoring, setup and patient education
98977 · remote therapeutic monitoring, device supply per 30 days (musculoskeletal)
98980 · remote therapeutic monitoring management, first 20 minutes/month
98981 · remote therapeutic monitoring management, each additional 20 minutes
99490 · chronic care management, clinical staff, first 20 minutes/month
99439 · chronic care management, clinical staff, each additional 20 minutes
99491 · chronic care management by physician/qhp, first 30 minutes/month
99495 · transitional care management, moderate complexity (14-day contact)
99496 · transitional care management, high complexity (7-day contact)
99484 · general behavioral health integration care management, per month

Frequently asked questions

How much does Medicare pay for 98968 in 2026?

The national non-facility payment is $34.74 and the facility payment is $29.06, using the standard $33.4009 conversion factor. Actual amounts vary by Medicare locality; use the RVU calculator for your area.

What is the work RVU for 98968?

The 2026 work RVU for 98968 is 0.75. Total RVUs are 1.04 in the non-facility setting and 0.87 in the facility setting.

Why are the facility and non-facility amounts different?

Only the practice expense component changes by setting. In an office (non-facility) the practice bears the overhead, so the PE RVU is higher; in a hospital or ASC the facility bills its own overhead separately.

Source: CMS Physician Fee Schedule relative value file (rvu26c.zip, retrieved 2026-07-11). Service description is an original plain-English summary, not CPT descriptor text. CPT® is a registered trademark of the American Medical Association. Amounts are estimates before sequestration and claim-level adjustments.