CPT 78608
Contractor-priced
78608 · PFS Q3 2021 · Historical
No national PFS rate in Q3 2021
Your Medicare Administrative Contractor prices this code case by case, usually after reviewing documentation.
CPT 78608 has no published national rate. It carries status C (carrier-priced) in the Q3 2021 release. Your Medicare Administrative Contractor prices this code case by case, usually after reviewing documentation. The blank amount means unpriced, not $0.
PFS status evidence
Inspect PFS status evidence
- Code
- 78608
- Release
- Q3 2021, revision 1
- Result
- Contractor-priced
Citations
-
Shows this code’s PFS status (C). Result: Contractor-priced.
Physician relative value file (PPRRVU)Q3 2021 · revision 1
Latest revision of this release
Release period: July 1 – September 30, 2021
This PFS record alone does not establish a $0 allowance or a coverage determination. Any amount from another schedule needs its own evidence.
Record details
PPRRVU21_JUL.csv in rvu21c-updated-6302021.zip (row 13,830)- hcpcs (col 1)
- 78608
- modifier (col 2)
- blank
- status_code (col 4)
- C
SHA-256: ee14b5306942acfe4554d2d7cf3fe95d7b1a0f41fc7a0445bc2d06df857dd7b6
Why is there no national PFS amount for 78608?
Its status indicator is C (carrier-priced). Your Medicare Administrative Contractor prices this code case by case, usually after reviewing documentation.
Payment considerations Copy link
Here are the inputs and payment rules that apply to this code. Each link takes you to the detail below.
Other payment indicators (8)
Facility/non-facility: Not determined, Bilateral adjustment: Does not apply, Multiple-procedure reduction: Does not apply, Assistant/co-surgeon treatment: Does not apply, Global surgery: Does not apply, NCCI same-day edits: Not determined, MUE behavior: Not determined, Other fee-schedule routing: Does not apply.
Why would a Medicare claim for 78608 be denied or paid less?
These come from CMS indicators on this page, not general billing advice.
- Its status indicator is C (carrier-priced)—Your Medicare Administrative Contractor prices this code case by case, usually after reviewing documentation. See status indicators
- 78608 splits into a professional component (modifier 26) and a technical component (modifier TC)—a claim for only one part needs that modifier to price correctly. See billing policy
- Bilateral surgery: no bilateral adjustment. See billing policy
- Assistant at surgery: restricted without documentation. See billing policy
- Co-surgeons: not permitted. See billing policy
- Team surgery: not permitted. See billing policy
Payer-specific coverage and documentation rules live outside these files, so a claim that clears every check here can still be denied on other grounds.
Reconciling a contractor-priced payment for 78608 Copy link
There is no national allowed amount for 78608, so every reconciliation of this line runs against the MAC fee schedule that was in force for the date of service rather than against a national baseline.
What to check
- Compare the paid amount against the MAC fee schedule in force for the date of service; there is no national allowed amount here to reconcile against.
- Confirm which component the line carried before comparing anything: the same code prices three ways—globally, as a professional component with modifier 26, and as a technical component with modifier TC.
- Check for documentation on file before appealing an assistant-at-surgery denial: payment on the -80 or -AS line is restricted for this procedure unless medical necessity is established.
- Reprice the line against the release, locality, setting, modifier and participation status that applied to the date of service before treating any difference as an underpayment.
Codes to compare
National Q3 2021 amounts at GPCI 1.000. A blank means this schedule does not publish a payable PFS amount.
None of the comparison codes are in this release.
Sources: CMS Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Relative Value Files; CMS Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Relative Value Files (status indicator field); CMS Medicare Claims Processing Manual (Pub. 100-04); 42 USC 1395w-4(i)(2) (SSA §1848(i)(2))—Assistants-at-surgery.
Which billing rules and modifiers apply? Copy link
Global period: what 78608's fee already covers Copy link
The global surgery concept does not apply to this code.
Billing policy Copy link
These billing-policy indicators explain how 78608 is treated. They apply whether the code is nationally priced or carrier-priced: a restriction like "bilateral not allowed" still matters on a carrier-priced code.
| Policy | Value | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Bilateral surgery | 0 | No bilateral adjustment. The 150% bilateral payment adjustment does not apply to this procedure. |
| Assistant at surgery | 0 | Restricted without documentation. Payment for an assistant at surgery is restricted for this procedure unless supporting documentation establishes medical necessity. |
| Co-surgeons | 0 | Not permitted. Medicare does not recognize co-surgeons (modifier 62) for this procedure. |
| Team surgery | 0 | Not permitted. Medicare does not recognize a surgical team (modifier 66) for this procedure. |
| Multiple procedures | 0 | No reduction. No multiple-procedure reduction applies when this procedure is billed with others on the same date; each is paid at its full fee schedule amount. |
| Professional/technical split | 1 | Splits into professional and technical. This procedure splits into a professional component (modifier 26) and a technical component (modifier TC), each separately payable. |
Can you bill it with another code? Copy link
Check a pair of codes Copy link
Enter a second CPT or HCPCS code billed on the same date of service. We'll check the current NCCI procedure-to-procedure edit for the pair.
How has it changed? Copy link
When does this rate change?
CMS publishes a fee schedule release every quarter (January, April, July, October), and each is versioned here. See what changed each release, or get an email when a new release moves rates.
Sources: CMS Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Relative Value Files.
Usage and related codes Copy link
How often 78608 is billed Copy link
Across Original Medicare in CY2024, 78608 ranked #1,065 of the 7,879 CPT codes billed to Medicare that year, by patients served or total allowed dollars.
2024 Medicare fee-for-service national totals. They exclude Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and commercial volume, so real-world use runs higher. This is a calendar-year snapshot from the CMS Physician & Other Practitioners dataset, on a different cycle from the Q3 2021 fee schedule above.
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Source & method
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Contractor amounts come from the MAC-published schedules and effective dates shown above. The PFS file shows this code is priced by the contractor. Past releases are never edited, so these sources stay valid after CMS publishes a newer one. Our methodology explains sourcing, parsing, versioning, and how we cross-check claims before we publish them.
Use the (i) buttons next to each amount above for the exact row, columns, and math.
Cite this rate
The citation names the release, so anyone can check it even after CMS publishes a newer one.
CPT 78608 National PFS baseline: No national PFS rate (Q3 2021; participating; whole service; GPCI 1.000; sequestration excluded). Localis. https://localishealth.com/cpt/78608/2021/C