CPT code 78299: GI nuclear medicine, unlisted procedure2026 Medicare rate & RVUs

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

What 78299 covers

78299 identifies an unlisted gastrointestinal diagnostic nuclear medicine procedure, used when no specific listed GI nuclear medicine code describes the service performed. The surrounding code series includes named procedures such as intestine imaging (78290), acute GI blood-loss imaging (78278), a GI protein-loss study (78282), and gastric-emptying imaging (78264); use a named procedure code when it accurately identifies the examination. This code identifies the service as unlisted rather than assigning it to one of those named studies.

CMS assigns physician fee schedule status C, carrier priced: no national payment is published, and the Medicare Administrative Contractor sets payment for each claim. The test has professional and technical components. Report modifier 26 for interpretation alone, modifier TC for the technical portion, or neither modifier when billing the global service. These component choices distinguish which part of the test is billed; the underlying procedure remains 78299 when no more specific GI nuclear medicine code describes it.

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 78299 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

78299 rates by state

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

How the 78299 rate is calculated

Each of 78299’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 78299

The CMS indicators that decide how 78299 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 26

78299 compared with similar codes

How to choose

78290Intestinal imagingEctopic gastric mucosa

78290 identifies intestine imaging. Use 78299 only when the GI nuclear medicine examination is not described by that or another specific code.

78278GI bleeding scanAcute blood loss

78278 is the specific code for imaging acute GI blood loss; 78299 is for an examination without a specific code.

78282Protein-loss imagingGastrointestinal tract

78282 identifies a GI protein-loss study. Use it rather than 78299 when that is the examination performed.

78264Gastric emptyingStomach only

78264 identifies gastric-emptying imaging. Use it rather than 78299 when the performed study matches that service.

Codes related to 78299

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