CPT code 78579: Lung scan, ventilation only2026 Medicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $166.34 for 78579 nationally in the office. Local office rates run $144.45–$232.72.

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

What 78579 covers

A lung ventilation study uses inhaled radioactive gas or aerosol to show how air and tracer distribute through the lungs. A nuclear medicine technologist typically acquires the images in a hospital or imaging department, with a radiologist or nuclear medicine physician interpreting them. The study is often part of an evaluation for suspected pulmonary embolism, where ventilation findings may be considered alongside lung perfusion imaging.

Report this code when the service performed is ventilation imaging, rather than a combined ventilation-and-perfusion study. The record should support the ventilation procedure performed and the resulting interpretation. CMS recognizes professional and technical components: report modifier 26 for the interpretation, modifier TC for the equipment and staff, or neither modifier for the global service. These components are separately priced in the Medicare fee schedule.

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 78579 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

78579 rates by state

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

How the 78579 rate is calculated

Each of 78579’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 78579

The CMS indicators that decide how 78579 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 26

78579 compared with similar codes

How to choose

78580Lung perfusion scanPerfusion only

Choose 78580 for lung perfusion imaging, which evaluates pulmonary blood-flow distribution. This code is for inhaled-tracer ventilation imaging.

78582Lung scanVentilation and perfusion

Choose 78582 when both ventilation and perfusion imaging are performed as a combined study; 78579 describes ventilation imaging alone.

78598Lung V/Q imagingDifferential ventilation and perfusion

78598 is for differential ventilation and perfusion imaging. Use 78579 for ventilation imaging that is not reported as that differential study.

Codes related to 78579

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