CPT code 43648: Electrode revision, gastric neurostimulator2026 Medicare rate & RVUs

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

What 43648 covers

During laparoscopic surgery, the surgeon revises or removes implanted gastric neurostimulation electrodes positioned at the stomach’s antrum. These electrodes deliver stimulation to the stomach as part of a gastric electrical stimulation system used in selected patients with gastroparesis. A surgeon performing the abdominal procedure typically reports this service in an operating room; the work concerns the electrodes, not automatically the implanted pulse generator.

Medicare lists this CPT service as carrier priced (status C): CMS publishes no national physician fee schedule payment, and the Medicare Administrative Contractor sets payment for each claim. The contractor also sets the global period. When other procedures are performed in the same session, the stated standard multiple-procedure rule applies: the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and others at 50%. Report the electrode work documented in the operative record; separate generator work is represented by its own applicable code.

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 43648 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

43648 rates by state

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

How the 43648 rate is calculated

Each of 43648’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 43648

The CMS indicators that decide how 43648 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 51

43648 compared with similar codes

How to choose

43647Gastric stimulator leadsLaparoscopic approach

Use 43647 for laparoscopic implantation of gastric neurostimulator electrodes; use 43648 for their revision or removal.

64595Generator revisionSacral or gastric system

Code 64595 concerns revision or removal of the pulse generator or receiver. Code 43648 concerns the gastric electrodes.

43659Laparoscopic stomach procedureUnlisted procedure

Code 43659 is the unlisted laparoscopic stomach procedure code. Use a specific code such as 43648 when the documented electrode work matches it.

Codes related to 43648

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