The RTM Champion: The Role Every Clinic Needs to Scale and Succeed

If I could give one piece of advice to any clinic owner or therapist diving into Remote Therapeutic Monitoring (RTM), it would be this: find yourself a champion. No, not the kind who wields a sword and rides into battle (although that would make billing disputes more entertaining). I’m talking about your RTM Champion — the person who turns your RTM program from a confusing side project into a smooth, sustainable, revenue-generating machine.

Why the RTM Champion Role Is a Game-Changer

When I first stumbled into RTM back in February 2022, I thought all I needed was the right platform, a good understanding of the CPT codes, and a bit of enthusiasm. Spoiler: enthusiasm only gets you so far when you’re drowning in patient onboarding, compliance tracking, and billing follow-ups. It didn’t take long to realize that without a point person — someone owning the process — the program felt like an extra weight on already busy therapists.

An RTM Champion fills that gap. They’re the quarterback of your RTM workflow. The air traffic controller. The glue that keeps the billing, patient engagement, and clinical delivery pieces stuck together.

And here’s the kicker: without a champion, your RTM program is almost guaranteed to underperform.

What Exactly Does an RTM Champion Do?

Think of your champion as the project manager, problem solver, and cheerleader for your RTM program. Their role is to:

- Oversee patient onboarding workflows so therapists don’t have to reinvent the wheel for every new patient.

- Monitor patient engagement to make sure you’re getting meaningful data and that therapists are hitting engagement requirements.

- Track billing compliance so nothing slips through the cracks (and yes, those cracks are usually expensive).

- Coordinate with your RTM platform vendor to handle tech hiccups before they derail your workflow.

- Keep the clinical team in the loop with regular updates, feedback, and workflow tweaks.

Without someone in this role, responsibility gets scattered — and scattered responsibility is the death of program consistency.

Why You (Probably) Need One More Than You Think

I’ve seen it over and over again. A clinic starts RTM with great intentions. Everyone’s excited, the first patients are onboarded, billing is set up, and then… reality hits. The therapists get busy. The champion role gets passed around like a hot potato. And soon enough, the program loses momentum.

In my work with hundreds of clinics across the country, the most successful ones — the ones turning RTM into reliable revenue — have one thing in common: a dedicated champion.

They’re not always a therapist. Sometimes it’s a PTA.  The background matters less than the skill set: organized, proactive, good communicator, and comfortable with tech.

RTM Workflow Management: The Champion’s Superpower

RTM workflow management sounds fancy, but at its core, it’s about creating repeatable systems so the program runs the same way every time. Your champion is the one who:

- Creates checklists for onboarding and engagement.

- Ensures therapists know exactly when and how to log patient interactions.

- Uses dashboards and reports to track compliance and spot trends.

- Communicates those trends to leadership so decisions are data-driven.

It’s not about micromanaging therapists. It’s about making RTM easy enough that it becomes part of their normal routine instead of a “bonus task” they get to when they have extra time (which is never).

The Champion’s Role in Your Remote Therapeutic Monitoring Team Structure

Every RTM program should have three main components in its team structure:

1. The Clinical Team – delivers the care and logs engagement.

2. The Champion – manages the workflows, keeps things on track.

3. The Billing/Administrative Support – makes sure the revenue side flows without hiccups.

The champion is the bridge between the clinical and administrative teams. Without them, communication gets muddy, and that’s when things like missed codes, incomplete patient data, or compliance lapses creep in.

How Having a Champion Turns RTM Into a Sustainable Revenue Stream

Here’s the fun part: a well-trained champion doesn’t just keep RTM from falling apart — they make it profitable. With the right workflows and oversight, you can:

- Increase patient compliance (and therefore billable events).

- Catch missed opportunities before the claim cycle closes.

- Maintain high therapist satisfaction because they’re not bogged down in the admin side.

- Build patient trust with consistent communication and follow-up.

One of my favorite examples is a clinic in the Midwest that went from inconsistent RTM revenue to a predictable $8K/month stream in less than 90 days after appointing a champion. The difference? The champion caught missed billing entries, streamlined patient onboarding, and kept therapists accountable in a friendly, non-nagging way.

Choosing the Right Person to Be Your Champion

The best RTM champions aren’t always the loudest leaders or the most senior staff members. Look for someone who:

- Thrives on organization – checklists are their love language.

- Enjoys problem-solving – tech hiccups don’t scare them.

- Communicates well – they can work with both therapists and admin staff.

- Understands the clinical context – they don’t have to be a PT or OT, but they should understand how care plans work.

Pro tip: Don’t dump the role on someone who’s already drowning in other responsibilities. The champion role deserves dedicated time and focus.

Training Your RTM Champion (Without Overwhelming Them)

This is where I shamelessly plug my Champion Training Module — because honestly, figuring this role out the hard way took me months of trial, error, and more coffee than I care to admit. My training covers:

- Building and managing RTM workflows.

- Tracking compliance without micromanaging therapists.

- Coordinating with platform vendors.

- Troubleshooting common RTM hiccups.

It’s the blueprint I wish I’d had when I started — and it’s helped dozens of clinics scale faster and more smoothly.

Final Thoughts: Your Champion Is the Secret Weapon

If RTM feels like an uphill climb right now, the answer might not be a better platform or more motivation. It might just be the right person in the right role.

Appoint your champion. Give them the tools, the time, and the training they need. And then watch your RTM program transform from “that extra thing we do” to “one of our most reliable revenue streams.”

Ready to appoint (or become) your clinic’s RTM Champion? Check out my courses "For the Dedicated Leader" or "Motivated Staff Therapist" — the step-by-step course to turning RTM from a burden into a smooth, scalable success story.