CPT code 78598: Lung V/Q imaging, differential ventilation and perfusion2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in New Mexico

In New Mexico, Medicare pays $246.04 for 78598 in the office.

Check a contract rate as a % of Medicare · 78598 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 78598 covers

This nuclear medicine examination images both airflow and blood flow in the lungs and measures their relative distribution between lung regions. A patient being evaluated for lung resection may undergo the study to help estimate how much functioning lung would remain. Imaging staff administer and acquire the ventilation and perfusion portions; a radiologist or nuclear medicine physician interprets the images and differential results. The examination may be performed in a hospital department or imaging center.

Select 78598 when the completed study includes both ventilation and perfusion imaging with differential measurements. The report should identify the two portions of the examination and document the regional results, rather than describe only a standard combined scan. For Medicare physician fee schedule billing, modifier 26 identifies the physician’s interpretation, and modifier TC identifies the equipment-and-staff portion. A claim without either modifier represents the global service, combining both components. A completed dual-portion differential examination is reported with this combined code rather than separate single-portion imaging codes.

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 New Mexico compares for 78598

Across 109 of 109 payment localities, the office rate for 78598 runs from $230.40 in Arkansas to $370.01 in San Benito County, CA. New Mexico pays $246.04. The RVUs are the same everywhere; the geographic indexes change the dollars.

Every other payment area

78598 rates by state

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

See 78598 in every payment locality

How the 78598 rate is calculated

Each of 78598’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 78598

The CMS indicators that decide how 78598 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 26

Codes related to 78598

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

How 78598 has changed in New Mexico

Price 78598 for an earlier date of service

Where the New Mexico rate applies

New Mexico is a Medicare payment area, not a city. Our Census mapping connects it to 528 cities and communities in New Mexico. Some span more than one payment area; confirm with the service ZIP.

• Abeytas
• Abiquiu
• Acomita Lake
• Adelino
• Agua Fria
• Alamillo
• Alamo
• Alamogordo

Browse all communities in New Mexico

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