CPT code 00870: Cystolithotomy anesthesia, extraperitoneal approach2026 Medicare rate & RVUs

Medicare allowed amount for participating (non-QP) physicians, before deductible, coinsurance and claim adjustments. Not a patient’s bill or a hospital charge.

What 00870 covers

This service covers anesthesia for an open extraperitoneal operation that reaches the urinary bladder through the lower abdomen to remove bladder calculi. An anesthesiologist or CRNA typically provides and reports the anesthesia in a hospital or other surgical facility. The operative service is commonly a cystolithotomy, such as the operation represented by CPT 51050; the surgeon’s record should establish the bladder incision and stone removal.

Choose this code for cystolithotomy, not for shock-wave treatment of urinary stones or a lower abdominal procedure without a more specific anesthesia category. The anesthesia record should identify the procedure and document the practitioner’s anesthesia start and end times. This code has 5 base units; Medicare payment is (base units + time units) × the locality’s anesthesia conversion factor. Time is counted in minutes and converted to 15-minute units to one decimal place, from preparation for anesthesia until the practitioner is no longer in personal attendance and the patient can safely be placed under postoperative care; the conversion factor varies by locality.

This summary was written with AI assistance from CMS physician fee schedule data and checked against the CMS billing rules shown here. Rates on this page come directly from CMS files.

Where 00870 pays more and less

The same RVUs, adjusted for each area’s costs. Open a locality for its calculation, history and nearby areas.

109 of 109 payment localities

00870 rates by state

Office rate range in each state. Select a state to see its payment localities.

How the 00870 rate is calculated

Each of 00870’s three RVUs is multiplied by a geographic index (GPCI) for the payment locality, added up, and multiplied by the conversion factor. Drag the indexes or enter a ZIP to see what moves the rate.

Payment rules and modifiers for 00870

00870 has no global surgery period, no multiple-procedure, bilateral or assistant-at-surgery adjustment, and no professional/technical split. What changes the payment is where the service happens: the place of service on the claim decides whether Medicare pays the office or the facility rate.

00870 compared with similar codes

How to choose

00860Lower abdominal anesthesiaExtraperitoneal, unspecified procedure

00870 identifies anesthesia for extraperitoneal cystolithotomy. Use 00860 for an extraperitoneal lower abdominal procedure when no more specific anesthesia category describes it.

00872Lithotripsy anesthesiaWater-bath technique

00872 is for anesthesia during extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy with a water bath. It is not the code for open bladder incision and stone removal.

00873ESWL anesthesiaWithout water bath

00873 is for extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy without a water bath. 00870 describes anesthesia for extraperitoneal cystolithotomy.

Codes related to 00870

Related codes aren’t interchangeable: bill the code that matches the service performed.

Where these rates come from

FeeBase calculates base physician payments from CMS work, practice-expense and malpractice RVUs, adjusted by each locality’s geographic indexes and the conversion factor. Services without a published rate are labeled, never given a made-up amount. Amounts are Medicare allowed amounts before claim adjustments: not a patient’s bill or a commercial rate.

CMS RVU26D · effective Oct 1, 2026 through the day before Jan 1, 2027

Open CMS sourceHow we calculate rates