CPT code 36217: Arterial catheterization, third order or higher2026 Medicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $1,976.00 for 36217 nationally in the office and $301.61 in a hospital or facility. Local office rates run $1,708.67–$2,735.11.

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

What 36217 covers

A physician, commonly an interventional radiologist, vascular surgeon, or cardiologist, advances a catheter through an arterial access site into a selected branch at the third order or beyond. The code describes the catheter’s selective position, not the angiographic images or treatment performed there. It may accompany diagnostic angiography or an endovascular procedure when the catheter placement is separately reportable. The relevant selection is the branch order reached along the route through the vascular family, rather than distance traveled or the number of vessels imaged.

Documentation should identify the access route, vascular family, catheterized branch, and order reached, along with any separately reportable imaging or intervention. Use the lower-order code when the highest branch reached is first or second order; 36218 may apply to an additional qualifying branch. CMS assigns a 0-day global period, so same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included. In a session with multiple procedures, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and others at 50%. Modifier 50 is inappropriate; assistant-at-surgery payment is restricted, and co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.

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 36217 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

36217 rates by state

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

How the 36217 rate is calculated

Each of 36217’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 36217

The CMS indicators that decide how 36217 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 51

36217 compared with similar codes

How to choose

36216Arterial catheterizationSecond-order branch

Use 36216 when the catheter reaches a second-order branch. 36217 requires advancement into a third-order or more distal branch.

36218Arterial catheterizationAdditional branch in same family

36217 reports the primary qualifying selective placement. 36218 represents an additional qualifying branch placement, not the primary placement.

36200Aortic catheterizationNonselective placement

36200 describes placement in the aorta. 36217 requires selective advancement into a third-order or more distal arterial branch.

36221Aortic arch angiographyNonselective thoracic aorta

36221 represents a cervicocerebral angiography service. 36217 describes selective catheter placement and is not a substitute for that combined service.

Codes related to 36217

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