CPT code 01840: Arterial procedure anesthesia, forearm, wrist, or hand2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in California

CMS doesn’t publish an office rate for 01840 in California.

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

What 01840 covers

This code covers anesthesia for arterial procedures involving the forearm, wrist, or hand when the procedure does not fit a more specific arterial category. An anesthesiologist or CRNA reports the anesthesia service in the operative or procedural setting. Arterial embolization and vascular shunt procedures have nearby anesthesia codes with more specific descriptions.

The operative report should identify the arterial procedure and body site, and the anesthesia record should support the service and anesthesia time. Medicare assigns this code 6 base units and pays base units plus time units multiplied by the locality’s anesthesia conversion factor. Time is reported in minutes and converted to 15-minute units to one decimal place; it begins with anesthesia preparation and ends when the practitioner is no longer personally attending and the patient can safely be placed under postoperative care.

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 01840 pays more and less in California

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

29 of 29 payment localities

How the 01840 rate is calculated

Each of 01840’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 01840

01840 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.

01840 compared with similar codes

How to choose

01842Embolectomy anesthesiaForearm, wrist, or hand arteries

Choose 01842 for arterial embolization in the forearm, wrist, or hand; 01840 is for other arterial procedures in those regions.

01844Shunt anesthesiaCreation or revision

01844 identifies anesthesia for vascular shunt or shunt revision procedures. 01840 applies to other arterial procedures of the forearm, wrist, or hand.

01850Vein procedure anesthesiaForearm, wrist, or hand

01850 applies to vein procedures of the forearm, wrist, or hand. 01840 applies when the operative target is an artery.

Codes related to 01840

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