# CPT 64636

> Medicare paid $175.76 for CPT 64636 in the office (non-facility) setting and $62.07 in a facility under the Q4 2020 Physician Fee Schedule, effective October 2020. These are the national allowed amounts before the ~2% sequestration cut and before locality (GPCI) adjustment. This price has been unchanged since Q1 2020, when it increased 0.6%.

## What it is

Radiofrequency ablation of the nerves supplying a further lumbar or sacral facet joint beyond the first one treated in the same session. Facet arthritis usually spans more than one segment, so it is common to treat two or three joints on a side in a single visit; this entry captures each of those extra joints. Technique and guidance are the same as for the first joint - only the level changes.

## Selected release

- Release: Q4 2020 (2020 D)
- Effective: October 1 – December 31, 2020
- Status indicator: A
- Office (non-facility) national allowed amount: $175.76
- Facility national allowed amount: $62.07
- Sequestration: not applied

## RVUs and formula

- Work RVU: 1.16
- Office (non-facility) practice expense RVU: 3.60
- Facility practice expense RVU: 0.45
- Malpractice RVU: 0.11
- Conversion factor: 36.0896
- Formula: `(work_rvu × work_gpci + pe_rvu × pe_gpci + mp_rvu × mp_gpci) × conversion_factor`

## Source and citation

- Source: Physician relative value file (Q4 2020)
- CMS file: https://www.cms.gov/files/zip/rvu20d-updated-11232020.zip
- Parsed file: PPRRVU20_OCT.csv, row 11,590
- Canonical page: https://localishealth.com/cpt/64636/2020/A
- Release-specific citation URL: https://localishealth.com/cpt/64636/2020/D
- Last significant update: 2026-08-04T03:10:00+00:00