# CPT 00537

> CPT 00537 is an anesthesia code, so Medicare has no single national rate: payment is (base units + time units) × the locality's anesthesia conversion factor — for example, about $495.44 for a 180-minute case in Dallas, TX under the Q4 2015 release, before sequestration.

## What it is

Anesthesia care during catheter-based electrical procedures inside the heart, including electrophysiology mapping studies and ablation, where catheters threaded through a vein are used to find and burn or freeze the tissue causing an abnormal rhythm. These cases run in a specialized cath or EP lab rather than an operating room, and often need deep sedation or general anesthesia because the patient must lie still for hours. It is distinct from anesthesia codes for open heart surgery, where the chest is opened.

## Selected release

- Release: Q4 2015 (2015 D)
- Effective: October 1 – December 31, 2015
- Status indicator: J
- Office (non-facility) national allowed amount: not published
- Facility national allowed amount: not published
- Sequestration: not applied

## RVUs and formula

- Work RVU: not published
- Office (non-facility) practice expense RVU: not published
- Facility practice expense RVU: not published
- Malpractice RVU: not published
- Conversion factor: 35.9335
- Formula: `(work_rvu × work_gpci + pe_rvu × pe_gpci + mp_rvu × mp_gpci) × conversion_factor`

## Source and citation

- Source: Physician relative value file (Q4 2015)
- CMS file: https://www.cms.gov/medicare/medicare-fee-for-service-payment/physicianfeesched/downloads/rvu15d.zip
- Parsed file: PPRRVU15_OCT05_V1001.csv, row 4,231
- Canonical page: https://localishealth.com/cpt/00537/2015/D
- Release-specific citation URL: https://localishealth.com/cpt/00537/2015/D
- Last significant update: 2026-08-04T03:06:14+00:00