# CPT 78815

> Not at a published national rate. CPT 78815 carries status C (carrier-priced) in the Q3 2020 release. Your Medicare Administrative Contractor prices this code case by case, usually after reviewing documentation. Treat the blank amount as unpriced, not as $0.

## What it is

The standard oncology PET/CT. A radioactive sugar tracer is injected, the patient rests while it distributes, and a combined scanner records both metabolic activity and a matching CT for anatomic localization and attenuation correction. The imaged field runs from the base of the skull down to the mid-thigh, which captures the neck, chest, abdomen, and pelvis where most cancers spread. That coverage is what separates this code from its neighbours: one sibling covers a single limited region, the other extends the scan to a true head-to-toe survey.

## Selected release

- Release: Q3 2020 (2020 C)
- Effective: July 1 – September 30, 2020
- Status indicator: C
- 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: 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 (Q3 2020)
- CMS file: https://www.cms.gov/files/zip/rvu20c-updated-06192020.zip
- Parsed file: PPRRVU20_V0618.csv, row 13,885
- Canonical page: https://localishealth.com/cpt/78815/2014/B
- Release-specific citation URL: https://localishealth.com/cpt/78815/2020/C
- Last significant update: 2026-08-04T03:09:46+00:00