CPT code 36500: Venous sampling, selective organ blood samples2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in Washington, DC area

In Washington, DC area, Medicare pays $173.24 for 36500 in a facility. There’s no office rate.

Check a contract rate as a % of Medicare · 36500 nationwide

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

What 36500 covers

A physician advances a catheter through the venous system into veins draining a selected organ and obtains blood samples for diagnostic testing. Interventional radiologists commonly perform this procedure in a hospital or outpatient setting. Adrenal vein sampling is a familiar example: samples from the adrenal veins help evaluate hormone production in a patient being assessed for primary aldosteronism.

Report 36500 for the selective organ-sampling catheterization, not for routine venous access or placement of a catheter for ongoing infusion. Documentation should identify the clinical purpose, target veins, catheterization performed, and samples obtained. Radiological supervision and interpretation may be separately represented by 75893 when supported. CMS assigns a 0-day global period, so same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included. When multiple procedures occur in the same session, 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.

How Washington, DC area compares for 36500

Across 109 of 109 payment localities, the facility rate for 36500 runs from $143.84 in Wisconsin to $208.93 in Alaska. Washington, DC area pays $173.24. The RVUs are the same everywhere; the geographic indexes change the dollars.

Every other payment area

36500 rates by state

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

See 36500 in every payment locality

How the 36500 rate is calculated

Each of 36500’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 36500

The CMS indicators that decide how 36500 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 51

Codes related to 36500

Related codes aren’t interchangeable: bill the code that matches the service performed.

How 36500 has changed in Washington, DC area

Price 36500 for an earlier date of service

Where the Washington, DC area rate applies

Washington, DC area is a Medicare payment area, not a city. Our Census mapping connects it to 1 cities and communities in District of Columbia. Some span more than one payment area; confirm with the service ZIP.

• Washington

Browse all communities in District of Columbia

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