CPT code 92522: Speech evaluation, speech sound production2026 Medicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $111.89 for 92522 nationally in the office. Local office rates run $104.70–$146.38.

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

What 92522 covers

A speech-language pathologist uses this evaluation to assess how a patient produces speech sounds, including patterns of sound substitutions or omissions, reduced intelligibility, and motor-speech difficulties such as apraxia or dysarthria. The assessment may include structured tasks and speech samples suited to the patient’s age and communication abilities. It is commonly performed in an outpatient speech-language pathology clinic, hospital outpatient department, or physician office when a patient has concerns such as persistent speech sound errors or impaired intelligibility.

Report 92522 when the documented evaluation focuses on speech sound production. The record should identify the communication concern, assessment findings, functional effects, and clinical conclusions supporting the need for care. Use 92523 when the evaluation also includes language comprehension and expression; a fluency-focused or voice-focused evaluation is represented by a different code. This is a therapy service, so a professional-component modifier does not apply. Under the CMS therapy multiple procedure payment reduction, practice expense is reduced for the second and later therapy units furnished on the same day.

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 92522 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

92522 rates by state

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

How the 92522 rate is calculated

Each of 92522’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 92522

The CMS indicators that decide how 92522 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

92522 compared with similar codes

How to choose

92523Speech-language evaluationSpeech plus language assessment

92522 focuses on speech sound production; 92523 is appropriate when language comprehension and expression are evaluated as part of the assessment.

92521Speech evaluationFluency

Use 92521 for a fluency evaluation, such as assessment of stuttering. Use 92522 for speech sound production concerns.

92524Voice evaluationBehavioral and perceptual analysis

92524 addresses voice quality and related voice characteristics. 92522 addresses how speech sounds are produced.

Codes related to 92522

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