CPT code 36013: Pulmonary catheter placement, right heart or main pulmonary artery2026 Medicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $775.23 for 36013 nationally in the office and $112.23 in a hospital or facility. Local office rates run $672.92–$1,078.51.

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

What 36013 covers

Code 36013 represents catheter advancement through venous access into the right heart or main pulmonary artery, without selective placement in a more distal pulmonary artery branch. It is commonly used when catheter positioning is part of pulmonary angiography or another pulmonary vascular procedure. Cardiologists, interventional radiologists, and other physicians performing catheter-based procedures typically report it in a hospital or other facility setting.

Choose the code from the documented catheter destination and degree of selection, not just the access site. The procedure note should identify the route and final catheter position; for pulmonary angiography, the imaging documentation should support the associated study. When other procedures are performed in the same session, CMS applies the standard multiple procedure reduction: the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and the others at 50%. When catheter placement is part of a more comprehensive service, follow the applicable CPT reporting instructions rather than reporting the same placement separately.

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 36013 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

36013 rates by state

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

How the 36013 rate is calculated

Each of 36013’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 36013

The CMS indicators that decide how 36013 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 51

36013 compared with similar codes

How to choose

36014Pulmonary catheterizationSelective pulmonary artery

Use 36013 for placement in the right heart or main pulmonary artery. Use 36014 when the catheter is selectively advanced into a pulmonary artery.

36015Pulmonary catheterizationSegmental or subsegmental branch

Code 36015 is for selective catheter placement in segmental or subsegmental pulmonary artery branches, farther along the arterial tree than the placement described by 36013.

93451Right heart cathHemodynamic measurements

Code 93451 reports a diagnostic right-heart catheterization, including its catheter placement and hemodynamic assessment. Code 36013 describes catheter placement for a separately reportable vascular procedure, not an extra charge for the same placement.

93503Heart catheterMonitoring catheter placement

Code 93503 describes placement of a flow-directed catheter for monitoring. Code 36013 describes positioning in the right heart or main pulmonary artery for a catheter-based vascular procedure.

Codes related to 36013

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