CPT code 61782: Cranial navigation, extradural2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in California

CMS doesn’t publish an office rate for 61782 in California.

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

What 61782 covers

This add-on describes computer-assisted navigation during cranial surgery performed outside the dura. The surgeon uses a registered imaging dataset and tracked instruments to orient the operative approach or guide work around structures such as the skull base. It may support an extradural anterior cranial fossa operation, including a craniofacial approach, when navigation is actually used. Neurosurgeons and other surgeons performing cranial procedures may use it in an operating room.

Report 61782 with the qualifying primary cranial procedure, not by itself. Documentation should identify the navigation service and its use during the extradural operation; routine review of imaging alone does not establish that the navigation service was performed. Select this code for extradural cranial navigation rather than the intradural cranial or spinal navigation sibling. CMS treats it as an add-on paid within the primary procedure's global period, so it is not a separately payable service outside that global period.

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 61782 pays more and less in California

The same RVUs, adjusted for each area’s costs. Open a locality for its calculation, history and nearby areas.

29 of 29 payment localities

How the 61782 rate is calculated

Each of 61782’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 61782

The CMS indicators that decide how 61782 is paid alongside other services.

61782 compared with similar codes

How to choose

61781Cranial navigationIntradural

Use 61782 for extradural cranial navigation and 61781 for intradural cranial navigation. The distinction is the operative compartment.

61783Spinal navigationComputer-assisted guidance

61783 describes computer-assisted navigation for spinal procedures; 61782 is limited to extradural cranial procedures.

61751Brain biopsyCT/MR-guided stereotactic

61751 describes stereotactic intracranial biopsy with CT and/or MR guidance. 61782 is an add-on for navigation during an extradural cranial operation, not a biopsy code.

Codes related to 61782

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