CPT code 71260: Chest CT with contrast, contrast-enhanced images only2026 Medicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $166.67 for 71260 nationally in the office. Local office rates run $147.46–$225.08.

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

What 71260 covers

This study images the lungs, mediastinum, pleura, chest wall, and great vessels after intravenous contrast administration. A separate precontrast diagnostic series is not acquired. Common indications include staging or restaging lung, esophageal, and breast cancers or lymphoma; characterizing a mediastinal or hilar mass; evaluating suspected empyema or abscess; and assessing lymphadenopathy. A CT technologist acquires the images in a hospital, imaging center, or office-based practice, and a radiologist interprets them in a signed report.

Select 71260 when the diagnostic chest images are acquired after contrast without a separate precontrast diagnostic series. The imaging record and report should support the indication, IV contrast use, technique, and findings. Billing without a modifier claims the global service when the billing entity provides both components. Modifier 26 identifies the interpretation; modifier TC identifies the equipment and staff portion. When eligible diagnostic imaging studies are furnished to the same patient on the same day, Medicare's multiple procedure reduction can affect both the technical and professional components of lower-ranked services.

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 71260 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

71260 rates by state

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

How the 71260 rate is calculated

Each of 71260’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 71260

The CMS indicators that decide how 71260 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 26

71260 compared with similar codes

How to choose

71250Chest CTDiagnostic, without contrast

71250 is diagnostic chest CT without contrast, commonly used for nodule follow-up or interstitial lung disease. Use 71260 when the diagnostic chest images are acquired after IV contrast without a precontrast diagnostic series.

71270Chest CTWithout and with contrast

71270 describes a chest CT with both precontrast and postcontrast diagnostic series. If the diagnostic images are acquired only after contrast, report 71260.

71275CT angiographyChest vessels

71275 is chest CT angiography, using angiographic acquisition and image postprocessing for vascular questions such as pulmonary embolism or aortic dissection. Routine contrast-enhanced diagnostic chest CT is 71260.

71271Lung screening CTLow-dose, without contrast

71271 is low-dose chest CT without contrast for lung cancer screening in eligible asymptomatic patients. Use 71260 for a contrast-enhanced diagnostic chest CT when its imaging technique is performed.

Codes related to 71260

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