CPT code 78473: Gated heart imaging, multiple studies2026 Medicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $266.87 for 78473 nationally in the office. Local office rates run $234.71–$365.64.

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

What 78473 covers

This study uses a radiotracer and ECG-gated gamma-camera imaging to track blood within the heart chambers over the cardiac cycle. Multiple acquisitions, often at rest and with stress, allow assessment of ventricular function, ejection fraction, and wall motion. Nuclear medicine technologists typically acquire the images; a qualified physician interprets them in hospital or outpatient imaging settings. The test may be used to evaluate ventricular performance, including in patients with heart failure or when cardiac function is being monitored during treatment.

Report 78473 when the service includes multiple gated equilibrium studies, rather than a single study. Documentation should identify the acquisitions performed and support the interpretation of cardiac function and wall motion. The service has professional and technical components: modifier 26 identifies the interpretation, modifier TC identifies the equipment-and-staff service, and no modifier represents the global service. The cardiovascular diagnostic multiple procedure reduction applies to the technical component.

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 78473 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

78473 rates by state

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

How the 78473 rate is calculated

Each of 78473’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 78473

The CMS indicators that decide how 78473 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 26

78473 compared with similar codes

How to choose

78472Cardiac blood-pool imagingSingle planar equilibrium study

78472 is for one gated equilibrium study; 78473 is for multiple studies, commonly performed at rest and stress.

78483First-pass cardiac imagingMultiple studies

78483 reports multiple first-pass blood-pool studies. 78473 reports multiple gated equilibrium studies; select according to the acquisition technique.

78494Cardiac blood-pool imagingGated SPECT

78494 is gated equilibrium blood-pool imaging with SPECT at rest. 78473 represents multiple equilibrium studies and is not the SPECT-specific code.

78452Nuclear stress testSPECT, multiple perfusion studies

78452 reports multiple SPECT myocardial perfusion studies, assessing myocardial perfusion. 78473 evaluates cardiac blood-pool function using gated equilibrium imaging.

Codes related to 78473

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