CPT code 61615: Skull lesion surgery, extradural, with craniectomy2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in Delaware

Reports surgical removal of an extradural neoplastic, vascular, or infectious skull lesion when the procedure includes craniectomy.

CMS RVU26DEffective Oct 1, 2026One payment locality59 Medicare services in 2024

In Delaware, Medicare pays $2,760.54 for 61615 in a facility. There’s no office rate.

Not available in this settingOffice (non-facility)
$2,760.54Hospital or facility

Check a contract rate as a % of Medicare · 61615 nationwide

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

We’ll open 61615 for the payment locality that covers the ZIP.

On this page 11 sections
  1. Rate in Delaware
  2. What 61615 covers
  3. Compared with other areas
  4. Rate map
  5. How it’s calculated
  6. Payment rules
  7. Related codes
  8. Rate history
  9. Where it applies
  10. Billing questions
  11. Sources

What 61615 covers

A neurosurgeon removes a neoplastic, vascular, or infectious lesion involving the skull from outside the dura, including the craniectomy needed to reach and excise it. A typical setting is facility-based surgery for a calvarial lesion requiring operative removal. The operative report should establish the lesion’s location and nature, the extradural operative plane, and the skull removal and excision performed.

Choose this code for an extradural skull lesion, not for an intradural lesion or a lesion at a separately defined cranial site. The day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care are included in the major-surgery global period. When multiple procedures are performed in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and the others at 50%. Modifier 50 is inappropriate for this code. Assistant-at-surgery payment may be available; co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation, and team surgery is 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 Delaware compares for 61615

Across 109 of 109 payment localities, the facility rate for 61615 runs from $2,415.89 in Arkansas to $3,618.74 in Miami, FL. Delaware pays $2,760.54. The RVUs are the same everywhere; the geographic indexes change the dollars.

61615 in Delaware vs other payment areas
  1. Delaware · this page$2,760.54
  2. Los Angeles, CA · California$2,913.18+$152.64
  3. Washington, DC area · District of Columbia$3,143.57+$383.03
  4. Miami, FL · Florida$3,618.74+$858.20
  5. Chicago, IL · Illinois$3,469.89+$709.35
  6. Manhattan, NY · New York$3,369.52+$608.98
  7. Alaska · Alaska$3,255.29+$494.75

Other areas in Delaware first, then benchmark localities. Bars start at $0.

Every other payment area

61615 in every other Medicare payment locality
Payment localityOfficeFacility
AlabamaAlabama—$2,459.57
ArkansasArkansas—$2,415.89
ArizonaArizona—$2,711.48
Bakersfield, CACalifornia—$2,759.46
Chico, CACalifornia—$2,721.19
El Centro, CACalifornia—$2,723.65
Fresno, CACalifornia—$2,721.19
Hanford, CACalifornia—$2,721.19

61615 rates by state

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

Explore a state

Local rates. Clear comparisons.

Hover or focus a tile to see its rate range. Select it to open the state’s fee schedule.

View every state and territory as a table
61615 office rate range by state
State / territoryOffice rate rangeLocalities
AKNo published base rate1
ALNo published base rate1
ARNo published base rate1
AZNo published base rate1
CANo published base rate29
CONo published base rate1
CTNo published base rate1
DCNo published base rate1
DENo published base rate1
FLNo published base rate3
GANo published base rate2
GUNo published base rate1
HINo published base rate1
IANo published base rate1
IDNo published base rate1
ILNo published base rate4
INNo published base rate1
KSNo published base rate1
KYNo published base rate1
LANo published base rate2
MANo published base rate2
MDNo published base rate3
MENo published base rate2
MINo published base rate2
MNNo published base rate1
MONo published base rate3
MSNo published base rate1
MTNo published base rate1
NCNo published base rate1
NDNo published base rate1
NENo published base rate1
NHNo published base rate1
NJNo published base rate2
NMNo published base rate1
NVNo published base rate1
NYNo published base rate5
OHNo published base rate1
OKNo published base rate1
ORNo published base rate2
PANo published base rate2
PRNo published base rate1
RINo published base rate1
SCNo published base rate1
SDNo published base rate1
TNNo published base rate1
TXNo published base rate8
UTNo published base rate1
VANo published base rate2
VINo published base rate1
VTNo published base rate1
WANo published base rate2
WINo published base rate1
WVNo published base rate1
WYNo published base rate1

See 61615 in every payment locality

How the 61615 rate is calculated

Each of 61615’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.

How the rate is built · 61615

RVUs × geographic indexes × conversion factor

Office or facility?

Work34.88

34.88 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI

Practice expense34.76

34.76 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI

Malpractice14.74

14.74 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI

Adjusted RVUs

84.3800

Conversion factor

$33.4009

Medicare rate

$2,818.37

Every GPCI starts at 1.000, the national rate. Enter a ZIP or drag a slider.

The exact Delaware inputs and CMS source lines

PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv

6,843

Code
61615
Physician work
34.88
Practice expense
34.76
Malpractice
14.74

GPCI2026.csv

40

Locality
Delaware
Physician work
1.005
Practice expense
0.988
Malpractice
0.899
Facility calculation for 61615 in Delaware
ComponentRVULocality factorAdjusted
Physician work34.88× 1.00535.0544
Practice expense34.76× 0.98834.3429
Malpractice14.74× 0.89913.2513
Total RVUs82.6485
Conversion factor× 33.4009

Facility rate, Delaware$2760.54

Facility: (34.88 × 1.005 + 34.76 × 0.988 + 14.74 × 0.899) × $33.4009 = $2760.54

Open 61615 in the RVU calculator

Payment rules and modifiers for 61615

61615 has a 90-day global period: related visits in that window are included in the surgery payment.

CMS payment indicators · 61615

Skull lesion surgery, extradural, with craniectomy

RuleCMS valueWhat it means
Global period090Major surgery: the day before, the day of, and 90 days after are included.
Multiple procedures2Standard reduction: highest-valued procedure at 100%, others at 50%.
Bilateral (modifier 50)0The 150% bilateral adjustment doesn’t apply.
Assistant at surgery (80/81/82/AS)2Paid.
Co-surgeons (62)1Permitted with supporting documentation.
Team surgery (66)2Permitted.
Professional/technical0Physician service: no professional/technical split.
Split (54/55/56)0.11/0.76/0.13Share of the payment for pre-op, the procedure itself, and post-op care.

Global surgery period · 61615

Skull lesion surgery, extradural, with craniectomy

90-day global period ends

Dec 30, 2026

Covers Sep 30, 2026 through Dec 30, 2026 (92 days, including the day before surgery).

Visit on Oct 31, 2026

Day 30 of the 90-day post-op period: related follow-up care is included in the surgical payment.

  • 24Unrelated E/M visit by the same physician
  • 79Unrelated procedure (starts its own global period)
  • 58Staged, more extensive, or therapy procedure that was planned
  • 78Unplanned return to the operating room for a related complication
SurgeryVisit
Sep 23, 2026Jan 10, 2027

Pre-op dayGlobal period

What modifiers do to the payment

Modifier 51 · payment effect

With and without the modifier

61615 without 51 · national facility

$2,818.37

Skull lesion surgery, extradural, with craniectomy

61615-51 · Second procedure: 50%

$1,409.19

When this isn’t the highest-valued procedure in the session, Medicare pays 50% of its fee schedule amount (the highest is paid at 100%).

When to use modifier 51

How 61615 has changed in Delaware

61615 · Office / nonfacility

Rate unavailable

Effective 2026-10-01

A rate is unavailable in one of these releases, so a change cannot be calculated.

Base rate by release · bars start at $0 · select a bar to compare

One bar per available release, ordered by effective date. Missing rates remain gaps. These comparisons hold the code, setting and locality identifiers constant; they do not isolate which policy or input caused a change.

What changed, release by release
Rates in every CMS release
Effective fromOfficeFacilityCMS release
2026-10-01Not available in this setting$2,760.54RVU26D
2026-07-01Not available in this setting$2,760.54RVU26C
2026-04-01Not available in this setting$2,760.54RVU26B
2026-01-01Not available in this setting$2,760.54RVU26A
2025-10-01Not available in this setting$2,736.93RVU25D
2025-07-01Not available in this setting$2,736.93RVU25C
2025-04-01Not available in this setting$2,736.93RVU25B
2025-01-01Not available in this setting$2,736.93RVU25A
2024-10-01Not available in this setting$2,819.28RVU24D
2024-07-01Not available in this setting$2,819.28RVU24C
2024-04-01Not available in this setting$2,819.28RVU24B
2024-03-09Not available in this setting$2,819.28RVU24AR
2024-01-01Not available in this setting$2,773.27RVU24A
2023-10-01Not available in this setting$2,872.15RVU23D
2023-07-01Not available in this setting$2,872.15RVU23C
2023-04-01Not available in this setting$2,872.15RVU23B
2023-01-01Not available in this setting$2,872.15RVU23A
2022-10-01Not available in this setting$2,918.87RVU22D
2022-07-01Not available in this setting$2,918.87RVU22C
2022-04-01Not available in this setting$2,918.87RVU22B
2022-01-01Not available in this setting$2,918.87RVU22A
2021-10-01Not available in this setting$2,933.51RVU21D
2021-07-01Not available in this setting$2,933.51RVU21C
2021-04-01Not available in this setting$2,933.51RVU21B
2021-01-01Not available in this setting$2,933.51RVU21A
2020-10-01Not available in this setting$2,977.30RVU20D
2020-07-01Not available in this setting$2,977.30RVU20C
2020-04-01Not available in this setting$2,977.30RVU20B
2020-01-01Not available in this setting$2,977.30RVU20A
2019-10-01Not available in this setting$3,062.43RVU19D
2019-07-01Not available in this setting$3,062.43RVU19C
2019-04-01Not available in this setting$3,045.49RVU19B
2019-01-01Not available in this setting$3,045.49RVU19A
2018-10-01Not available in this setting$3,034.27RVU18D
2018-07-01Not available in this setting$3,034.27RVU18C
2018-04-01Not available in this setting$3,034.27RVU18B
2018-01-01Not available in this setting$3,034.27RVU18AR1
2017-10-01Not available in this setting$2,641.84RVU17D
2017-07-01Not available in this setting$2,641.84RVU17C
2017-04-01Not available in this setting$2,641.84RVU17B
2017-01-01Not available in this setting$2,641.84RVU17A
2016-10-01Not available in this setting$2,423.00RVU16D
2016-07-01Not available in this setting$2,423.00RVU16C
2016-04-01Not available in this setting$2,423.00RVU16B
2016-01-01Not available in this setting$2,423.00RVU16A
2015-10-01Not available in this setting$2,957.27RVU15D
2015-07-01Not available in this setting$2,957.27RVU15C
2015-04-01Not available in this setting$2,942.56RVU15B
2015-01-01Not available in this setting$2,942.56RVU15A
2014-10-01Not available in this setting$2,361.40RVU14D
2014-07-01Not available in this setting$2,361.40RVU14C
2014-04-01Not available in this setting$2,361.40RVU14B
2014-01-01Not available in this setting$2,361.40RVU14A
2013-10-01Not available in this setting$2,299.37RVU13D
2013-07-01Not available in this setting$2,299.37RVU13C
2013-04-01Not available in this setting$2,299.37RVU13B
2013-01-01Not available in this setting$2,299.37RVU13AR

Price 61615 for an earlier date of service

Where the Delaware rate applies

Delaware is a Medicare payment area, not a city. Our Census mapping connects it to 79 cities and communities in Delaware. Some span more than one payment area; confirm with the service ZIP.

  • Arden
  • Ardencroft
  • Ardentown
  • Bear
  • Bellefonte
  • Bethany Beach
  • Bethel
  • Blades

Browse all communities in Delaware

61615 billing questions

How does 61615 differ from 61616?

61615 is for an extradural skull lesion removed with craniectomy. Use 61616 when the skull lesion is intradural and the procedure includes dural work.

Is craniectomy included in 61615?

Yes. The code includes the craniectomy performed as part of resecting or excising the extradural lesion.

Can modifier 50 be reported?

No. The descriptor and anatomy make a bilateral adjustment inappropriate for 61615.

What postoperative care is included?

The major-surgery global period includes the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care.

Can an assistant or co-surgeon be reported?

Assistant-at-surgery payment may be made. Co-surgeons are paid only when supporting documentation is provided.

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

Show the CMS file lines behind this rate
RVUs for 61615PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv, line 6,843 (RVU26D)
Geographic factors for DelawareGPCI2026.csv, line 40 (RVU26D)

Open CMS sourceHow we calculate rates

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