CPT code 51702: Bladder catheter, temporary indwelling placement2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in Alabama

In Alabama, Medicare pays $58.61 for 51702 in the office and $21.20 when it’s performed in a hospital or facility.

Check a contract rate as a % of Medicare · 51702 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 51702 covers

A clinician places a temporary indwelling catheter through the urethra into the bladder and leaves it in place to drain urine. A common clinical situation is acute urinary retention; placement may also be needed when ongoing bladder drainage or urine-output monitoring is part of care. The service is performed in settings such as an office, emergency department, or hospital. The defining feature is that the catheter remains in the bladder for continued drainage, rather than being inserted briefly and removed after emptying the bladder.

Report the service when the record supports the need for an indwelling catheter and its placement. Document the clinical indication and that the catheter was left in place. Choose a non-indwelling catheterization code when the catheter is removed after drainage, and a complex catheterization code when the placement meets that code’s complexity criteria. CMS assigns this procedure 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% multiple-procedure reduction. Modifier 50 is inappropriate; assistant-at-surgery payment is restricted, and 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.

How Alabama compares for 51702

Across 109 of 109 payment localities, the office rate for 51702 runs from $57.74 in Arkansas to $86.85 in San Benito County, CA. Alabama pays $58.61. The RVUs are the same everywhere; the geographic indexes change the dollars.

Every other payment area

51702 rates by state

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

See 51702 in every payment locality

How the 51702 rate is calculated

Each of 51702’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 51702

The CMS indicators that decide how 51702 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 51

Codes related to 51702

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

How 51702 has changed in Alabama

Price 51702 for an earlier date of service

Where the Alabama rate applies

Alabama is a Medicare payment area, not a city. Our Census mapping connects it to 595 cities and communities in Alabama. Some span more than one payment area; confirm with the service ZIP.

• Abanda
• Abbeville
• Adamsville
• Addison
• Akron
• Alabaster
• Albertville
• Alexander City

Browse all communities in Alabama

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