CPT code 36901: Circuit angiography, diagnostic only2026 Medicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $686.39 for 36901 nationally in the office and $147.30 in a hospital or facility. Local office rates run $599.20–$937.97.

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

What 36901 covers

36901 covers percutaneous entry into an arteriovenous dialysis fistula or graft and diagnostic contrast imaging of the circuit. The study traces flow from the arterial anastomosis and adjacent artery through venous outflow, including central veins, with catheter or needle placement, contrast injections, imaging, and interpretation. Interventional radiologists and vascular surgeons commonly perform it in an angiography suite to evaluate suspected stenosis, poor dialysis flows, prolonged bleeding, or other access dysfunction.

Report 36901 when diagnostic imaging is performed without a circuit intervention. If angioplasty, stenting, or thrombectomy is performed, choose the corresponding intervention code, which includes the diagnostic work; do not separately report 36901 for that circuit. The record should identify the access, findings, imaging extent, and whether treatment occurred. The code has a 0-day global period, so same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included. When multiple procedures occur in one session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and others at 50%. Modifier 50 is inappropriate for this single-circuit service. Medicare does not pay assistant-at-surgery services; 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 36901 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

36901 rates by state

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

How the 36901 rate is calculated

Each of 36901’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 36901

The CMS indicators that decide how 36901 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 51

36901 compared with similar codes

How to choose

36902Dialysis access angioplastyPeripheral segment

36901 is for diagnostic imaging alone. Choose 36902 when balloon angioplasty is performed in the peripheral dialysis segment.

36903Dialysis access stentingPeripheral segment

36901 reports diagnostic imaging without circuit treatment. Choose 36903 when a stent is placed in the peripheral dialysis segment.

36904Dialysis thrombectomyWithout peripheral angioplasty or stent

Use 36901 for diagnostic imaging alone; 36904 describes dialysis circuit thrombectomy or thrombolysis.

36907Dialysis angioplastyCentral segment

36907 is an add-on for central-segment angioplasty, not a replacement for the primary circuit imaging code. Report it with an eligible primary dialysis circuit code when that treatment is performed.

Codes related to 36901

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