CPT code 78481: Cardiac function imaging, single first-pass study2026 Medicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $162.33 for 78481 nationally in the office. Local office rates run $143.39–$221.92.

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

What 78481 covers

A radiopharmaceutical bolus is followed as it moves through the heart, with rapid image acquisition during its first passage through the cardiac chambers. The resulting study supports quantitative assessment of cardiac function, including wall motion and ejection fraction. Nuclear medicine physicians, radiologists, or cardiologists may perform and interpret the examination in an imaging department or hospital setting, with or without pharmacologic intervention.

Report 78481 for a single first-pass study, rather than a series of first-pass studies. Documentation should identify the study performed and include the image interpretation and quantitative findings. The service has professional and technical components: modifier 26 identifies the interpretation, modifier TC identifies equipment and staff, and no component modifier represents the global service. When multiple cardiovascular diagnostic procedures are performed, CMS applies the multiple-procedure reduction 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 78481 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

78481 rates by state

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

How the 78481 rate is calculated

Each of 78481’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 78481

The CMS indicators that decide how 78481 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 26

78481 compared with similar codes

How to choose

78483First-pass cardiac imagingMultiple studies

Both use first-pass cardiac function imaging, but 78481 represents one study and 78483 represents multiple studies.

78472Cardiac blood-pool imagingSingle planar equilibrium study

78481 tracks the tracer during its first passage through the heart; 78472 is a single gated blood-pool study.

78494Cardiac blood-pool imagingGated SPECT

78481 uses first-pass acquisition, while 78494 is cardiac SPECT imaging.

Codes related to 78481

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