CPT code 92551: Hearing screening, pure tone, air only2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in Michigan
Reports a brief pure-tone hearing screen using air conduction, rather than diagnostic threshold audiometry or a comprehensive hearing evaluation.
CMS doesn’t publish an office rate for 92551 in Michigan.
Medicare allowed amount for participating (non-QP) physicians, before deductible, coinsurance and claim adjustments. Not a patient’s bill or a hospital charge.
Your location
On this page 9 sections
What 92551 covers
This service is a hearing screen that presents pure tones through air-conduction headphones to check for possible hearing difficulty. The examiner checks responses to tones presented at different pitches. It is used in screening encounters, including primary care and audiology settings, when the purpose is to identify whether further hearing evaluation may be needed. It is distinct from diagnostic audiometry that establishes hearing thresholds and from tests that include speech or bone-conduction measures.
Medicare lists this CPT code with physician fee schedule status N, meaning the service is not covered by Medicare. It represents the air-conduction pure-tone screening service; it should not be used to report speech testing, bone-conduction testing, or a comprehensive audiometric evaluation.
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 92551 pays more and less in Michigan
| Payment locality | Office | Facility |
|---|---|---|
| Detroit, MI | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| Rest of Michigan | Unavailable | Unavailable |
How the 92551 rate is calculated
Each of 92551’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.
How the rate is built · 92551
RVUs × geographic indexes × conversion factor
Work0.00
0.00 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI
Practice expense0.39
0.39 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI
Malpractice0.01
0.01 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI
Adjusted RVUs
0.4000
Conversion factor
$33.4009
Medicare rate
$13.36
Every GPCI starts at 1.000, the national rate. Enter a ZIP or drag a slider.
Payment rules and modifiers for 92551
92551 has no global surgery period, no multiple-procedure, bilateral or assistant-at-surgery adjustment, and no professional/technical split. What changes the payment is where the service happens: the place of service on the claim decides whether Medicare pays the office or the facility rate.
Place of service · 92551
Which rate does Medicare pay?
The POS code on the claim line (CMS-1500 box 24B).
POS 11 · non-facility rate · national
—
92551 isn’t priced in this setting.
92551 compared with similar codes
Compare codes · National
4 codes, side by side
How to choose
- 92552Pure-tone audiometryAir conduction only
- 92551 is a screening test. 92552 measures air-conduction hearing thresholds as diagnostic audiometry.
- 92553AudiometryAir and bone thresholds
- 92553 includes both air- and bone-conduction audiometry; 92551 is limited to an air-conduction pure-tone screen.
- 92557Comprehensive hearing testAir, bone, and speech testing
- 92557 is comprehensive audiometry, while 92551 reports a pure-tone screening service rather than a comprehensive diagnostic evaluation.
92551 billing questions
How is 92551 different from 92552?
92551 is a pure-tone hearing screen using air conduction. Use 92552 for air-conduction audiometry that measures hearing thresholds.
Does 92551 include bone-conduction or speech testing?
No. It represents an air-conduction pure-tone screen, not bone-conduction testing or speech audiometry.
When is 92553 or 92557 a better fit?
Those codes describe broader diagnostic audiometry: 92553 includes air- and bone-conduction testing, while 92557 is comprehensive audiometry. They are not substitutes for reporting a screening service that was performed.
How does Medicare treat 92551?
Medicare assigns physician fee schedule status N, meaning the service is not covered by Medicare.
What should the record support?
Document that a pure-tone screen was performed using air conduction and record the screening results. Do not use this code to represent diagnostic threshold, bone-conduction, or speech testing.
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
Fee sheets · Coming soon
Put 92551 and the rest of your codes on one sheet
Your codes at your locality, with payer contracts beside Medicare.
Join the waitlist