CPT code 37253: IVUS, each additional noncoronary vessel2026 Medicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $169.68 for 37253 nationally in the office and $62.46 in a hospital or facility. Local office rates run $149.13–$220.68.

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

What 37253 covers

A vascular specialist advances an ultrasound catheter through the vessel to examine the lumen and wall from inside. Intravascular ultrasound can help assess plaque, narrowing, thrombus, or the result of an intervention in noncoronary vessels such as the aorta, iliac vessels, and peripheral arteries or veins. Vascular surgeons, interventional radiologists, and other physicians performing endovascular procedures commonly use it in an angiography suite or operating room. The service includes image interpretation.

Report 37253 for each additional noncoronary vessel examined after the initial vessel, which is reported with 37252. Count vessels, not ultrasound passes, images, or separate findings within one vessel. The record should identify each vessel evaluated and support the physician’s interpretation and clinical use of the images. This is an add-on code: submit it with an eligible primary procedure, not by itself. Its payment is within that primary procedure’s global period; it does not establish a separate global period.

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 37253 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

37253 rates by state

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

How the 37253 rate is calculated

Each of 37253’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 37253

The CMS indicators that decide how 37253 is paid alongside other services.

37253 compared with similar codes

How to choose

37252Intravascular ultrasoundFirst noncoronary vessel

Use 37252 for the initial noncoronary vessel examined with IVUS; 37253 identifies each additional vessel.

92979Coronary imagingEach additional vessel

92979 is for an additional coronary vessel. Use 37253 for an additional noncoronary vessel.

37246Arterial angioplastyInitial artery

37246 reports balloon angioplasty in an artery, not ultrasound imaging. It may be reported with IVUS when both services are performed.

37248Venous angioplastyInitial vein

37248 reports balloon angioplasty in a vein, not ultrasound imaging. It may be reported with IVUS when both services are performed.

Codes related to 37253

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