CPT code 20900: Bone graft harvest, minor or small graft2026 Medicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $398.14 for 20900 nationally in the office and $160.66 in a hospital or facility. Local office rates run $350.28–$527.10.

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

What 20900 covers

This service covers obtaining a small piece of the patient’s own bone for grafting, such as a small dowel- or button-shaped piece. An orthopedic, spine, or reconstructive surgeon may harvest it during an operation in which another site needs bone graft material. The operative record should identify the donor site and describe the harvested graft and the procedure for which it is used.

Select this code when the harvested graft is minor or small; code 20902 represents a major or large harvest. Report the harvest with the procedure that uses the graft when separately supported by the operative work. The 0-day global period includes same-day preoperative and postoperative care. When multiple procedures occur in one session, Medicare pays the highest-valued procedure in full and reduces the others to 50%. Assistant-at-surgery payment may be allowed; co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation, and team surgery is not permitted. Modifier 50 is inappropriate for this code.

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 20900 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

20900 rates by state

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

How the 20900 rate is calculated

Each of 20900’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 20900

The CMS indicators that decide how 20900 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 51

20900 compared with similar codes

How to choose

20902Bone graft harvestMajor or large graft

Both represent harvesting the patient’s bone for a graft. Choose 20900 for a minor or small harvest and 20902 for a major or large harvest.

20936Spinal autograftLocal, same incision

20936 describes local spinal autograft obtained through the operative incision. Use 20900 for a separately documented small bone harvest rather than local bone collected at the recipient site.

20937Spinal bone graftMorselized, separate incision

20937 represents a separately harvested morselized autograft for spinal surgery. Choose 20900 for a minor or small harvest that is not being reported under that spinal graft code.

20938Spinal bone graftStructural autograft, separate incision

20938 represents a separately harvested structural autograft for spinal surgery. It differs from 20900, which identifies a minor or small bone harvest.

Codes related to 20900

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