CPT code 78070: Parathyroid imaging, planar only2026 Medicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $260.86 for 78070 nationally in the office. Local office rates run $226.83–$365.09.

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

What 78070 covers

This service uses a gamma camera to obtain planar images of the parathyroid region, commonly during evaluation of suspected hyperparathyroidism or to localize abnormal parathyroid tissue. A nuclear medicine technologist typically performs the image acquisition in a hospital or outpatient imaging department, and a radiologist or nuclear medicine physician interprets the study. Select this code for planar imaging without subtraction; use a different code when the performed examination includes subtraction or SPECT/CT.

The record should support the clinical indication, the planar acquisition performed, and the interpreting physician’s findings. Medicare recognizes professional and technical components: report modifier 26 for the interpretation, modifier TC for the equipment and staff, or neither modifier when billing the global service. CMS separately prices the 26 and TC components. The professional component reflects the physician’s interpretation, while the technical component represents performance of the imaging service.

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 78070 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

78070 rates by state

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

How the 78070 rate is calculated

Each of 78070’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 78070

The CMS indicators that decide how 78070 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 26

78070 compared with similar codes

How to choose

78071Parathyroid imagingPlanar, with or without subtraction

Choose 78071 when subtraction is performed as part of planar parathyroid imaging; 78070 is for planar imaging without subtraction.

78072Parathyroid imagingSPECT with CT

78072 includes SPECT and CT along with planar imaging. Report 78070 when the study is planar only.

Codes related to 78070

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