# CPT 82533

> Not at a published national rate. CPT 82533 carries status X (statutory exclusion) in the Q2 2018 release. The statutory definition of physician services does not include this item. Treat the blank amount as unpriced, not as $0.

## What it is

Measurement of total cortisol, the main stress hormone made by the adrenal glands. Cortisol follows a daily rhythm - usually highest in the early morning and lowest late at night - so the time the sample is drawn matters as much as the number itself. It is used to investigate both too much cortisol, as in Cushing syndrome, and too little, as in adrenal insufficiency, and it is often drawn repeatedly as part of stimulation or suppression testing rather than as a single standalone value.

## Selected release

- Release: Q2 2018 (2018 B)
- Effective: April 1 – June 30, 2018
- Status indicator: X
- 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: 35.9996
- Formula: `(work_rvu × work_gpci + pe_rvu × pe_gpci + mp_rvu × mp_gpci) × conversion_factor`

## Source and citation

- Source: Physician relative value file (Q2 2018)
- CMS file: https://www.cms.gov/medicare/medicare-fee-for-service-payment/physicianfeesched/downloads/rvu18b.zip
- Parsed file: PPRRVU18_APR.csv, row 13,834
- Canonical page: https://localishealth.com/cpt/82533/2014/B
- Release-specific citation URL: https://localishealth.com/cpt/82533/2018/B
- Last significant update: 2026-08-04T03:08:19+00:00