CPT code 38525: Axillary node biopsy, open, deep axillary nodes2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in Mississippi

In Mississippi, Medicare pays $393.24 for 38525 in a facility. There’s no office rate.

Check a contract rate as a % of Medicare · 38525 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 38525 covers

The surgeon makes an incision and dissects to one or more deep lymph nodes in the armpit, removing tissue for pathologic examination. Breast and general surgeons commonly perform this procedure in an operating room for diagnostic sampling or axillary staging; it is also used to remove a deep axillary sentinel node during breast cancer surgery. The code identifies the open approach and deep axillary location, rather than a superficial node or a needle sample.

Choose the code based on the operative report’s documented approach and node location. Record the side, the deep axillary dissection, and whether nodes were removed for biopsy or staging. When intraoperative sentinel-node identification is performed, report add-on code 38900 as appropriate. The 90-day global period includes the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care. For multiple procedures in one session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures at 50%. Bilateral reporting with modifier 50 is paid at 150%. Assistant-at-surgery payment is statutorily restricted; co-surgeon and team-surgery payment 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 Mississippi compares for 38525

Across 109 of 109 payment localities, the facility rate for 38525 runs from $380.86 in Arkansas to $521.98 in Alaska. Mississippi pays $393.24. The RVUs are the same everywhere; the geographic indexes change the dollars.

Every other payment area

38525 rates by state

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

See 38525 in every payment locality

How the 38525 rate is calculated

Each of 38525’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 38525

38525 has a 90-day global period: related visits in that window are included in the surgery payment.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 50

Codes related to 38525

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

How 38525 has changed in Mississippi

Price 38525 for an earlier date of service

Where the Mississippi rate applies

Mississippi is a Medicare payment area, not a city. Our Census mapping connects it to 427 cities and communities in Mississippi. Some span more than one payment area; confirm with the service ZIP.

• Abbeville
• Aberdeen
• Ackerman
• Agricola
• Alcorn State University
• Algoma
• Alligator
• Amory

Browse all communities in Mississippi

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