CPT code 00873: ESWL anesthesia, without water bath2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in Massachusetts
Anesthesia for extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy without a water bath, typically used to treat kidney or ureteral stones.
CMS doesn’t publish an office rate for 00873 in Massachusetts.
Medicare allowed amount for participating (non-QP) physicians, before deductible, coinsurance and claim adjustments. Not a patient’s bill or a hospital charge.
Your location
On this page 9 sections
What 00873 covers
This code covers anesthesia for extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) performed without a water bath, commonly to treat kidney or ureteral stones. An anesthesiologist or CRNA provides and reports the anesthesia in an outpatient facility or office setting; the urologist reports the stone-treatment procedure, such as CPT 50590.
Choose this code when ESWL is performed without a water bath, rather than the water-bath service represented by 00872. The anesthesia record should document anesthesia start and stop times; the operative record should establish the stone site and that ESWL was performed without a water bath. This code has 5 base units, and Medicare payment is the sum of base units and time units multiplied by the locality's anesthesia conversion factor. Anesthesia time runs from preparation for anesthesia until the practitioner is no longer in personal attendance and the patient can safely be placed under postoperative care; CMS converts minutes to 15-minute time units to one decimal place, and 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 00873 pays more and less in Massachusetts
| Payment locality | Office | Facility |
|---|---|---|
| Metropolitan Boston, MA | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| Rest of Massachusetts | Unavailable | Unavailable |
How the 00873 rate is calculated
Each of 00873’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.
How the rate is built · 00873
RVUs × geographic indexes × conversion factor
Work0.00
0.00 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI
Practice expense0.00
0.00 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI
Malpractice0.00
0.00 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI
Adjusted RVUs
0.0000
Conversion factor
$33.4009
Medicare rate
$0.00
Every GPCI starts at 1.000, the national rate. Enter a ZIP or drag a slider.
Payment rules and modifiers for 00873
00873 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.
Place of service · 00873
Which rate does Medicare pay?
The POS code on the claim line (CMS-1500 box 24B).
POS 11 · non-facility rate · national
—
00873 isn’t priced in this setting.
00873 compared with similar codes
Compare codes · National
4 codes, side by side
How to choose
- 00872Lithotripsy anesthesiaWater-bath technique
- The distinction is the ESWL setup: 00873 is for treatment without a water bath; 00872 is for treatment with one.
- 00918Ureteral stone anesthesiaTransurethral removal
- Use 00918 for transurethral ureteral procedures, including ureteral lithotripsy. Use 00873 for external shock wave lithotripsy without a water bath.
- 00870Cystolithotomy anesthesiaExtraperitoneal approach
- 00870 applies to anesthesia for an extraperitoneal bladder stone operation, such as cystolithotomy; 00873 is for ESWL without a water bath.
00873 billing questions
How do I distinguish 00873 from 00872?
Use 00873 for ESWL performed without a water bath. Use 00872 when the ESWL procedure uses a water bath.
Which practitioner reports 00873?
The anesthesia practitioner who provides the anesthesia reports 00873. The urologist reports the ESWL procedure separately.
Are time units added to the base units?
Yes. Medicare calculates payment using 5 base units plus time units, multiplied by the anesthesia conversion factor for the locality. Time is counted in minutes and converted to 15-minute units to one decimal place.
What should the records show?
The anesthesia record should support the anesthesia service and its start and stop times. The operative record should identify the stone location and establish that ESWL was performed without a water bath.
When is 00918 a better choice?
00918 is for anesthesia during transurethral procedures on the ureter, including ureteral lithotripsy. Choose 00873 for external shock wave treatment without a water bath.
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
Fee sheets · Coming soon
Put 00873 and the rest of your codes on one sheet
Your codes at your locality, with payer contracts beside Medicare.
Join the waitlist