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

In Iowa, Medicare pays $239.52 for 78070 in the office.

Check a contract rate as a % of Medicare · 78070 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 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.

How Iowa compares for 78070

Across 109 of 109 payment localities, the office rate for 78070 runs from $226.83 in Arkansas to $365.09 in San Benito County, CA. Iowa pays $239.52. The RVUs are the same everywhere; the geographic indexes change the dollars.

Every other payment area

78070 rates by state

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

See 78070 in every payment locality

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

Codes related to 78070

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

How 78070 has changed in Iowa

Price 78070 for an earlier date of service

Where the Iowa rate applies

Iowa is a Medicare payment area, not a city. Our Census mapping connects it to 1026 cities and communities in Iowa. Some span more than one payment area; confirm with the service ZIP.

• Ackley
• Ackworth
• Adair
• Adel
• Afton
• Agency
• Ainsworth
• Akron

Browse all communities in Iowa

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