CPT code 47000: Liver biopsy, percutaneous needle2026 Medicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $287.92 for 47000 nationally in the office and $76.49 in a hospital or facility. Local office rates run $252.95–$392.18.

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

What 47000 covers

A physician passes a biopsy needle through the skin into the liver to obtain tissue for diagnostic examination. Gastroenterologists, hepatologists, radiologists, and other physicians may perform the procedure, often in an outpatient department or hospital; some biopsies are performed in an office. The service is distinct from obtaining a wedge specimen during open surgery. The specimen is submitted for pathological examination, and imaging guidance may be used when clinically indicated.

Report 47000 for the percutaneous needle biopsy itself. The procedure note should support the liver as the sampled site, the percutaneous approach, and tissue acquisition; document guidance separately when performed. Pathological examination of the tissue is a separate service when performed and reportable. This minor procedure has 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 the others are subject to the standard 50% reduction. Modifier 50 is inappropriate. Medicare does not pay an assistant at surgery for this code; 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 47000 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

47000 rates by state

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

How the 47000 rate is calculated

Each of 47000’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 47000

The CMS indicators that decide how 47000 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 51

47000 compared with similar codes

How to choose

47001Liver biopsyDuring another major procedure

47000 describes a percutaneous needle biopsy performed as its own procedure. 47001 is for an indicated needle biopsy during another major procedure.

47100Liver biopsyWedge tissue sample

Use 47100 for wedge sampling of liver tissue, generally obtained surgically; use 47000 for tissue obtained through a percutaneous needle approach.

88307Tissue pathology examLevel V specimen

88307 reports pathological examination of the needle liver biopsy specimen, not the physician's percutaneous tissue-acquisition procedure reported with 47000.

Codes related to 47000

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