CPT code 92978: Coronary imaging, initial vessel2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in California

CMS doesn’t publish an office rate for 92978 in California.

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

What 92978 covers

This add-on describes imaging inside a coronary artery or bypass graft with intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) or optical coherence tomography (OCT). The catheter-based study produces images of the vessel for assessment during a coronary diagnostic evaluation or intervention. Interventional cardiologists typically perform or interpret it in a cardiac catheterization laboratory, often alongside coronary angiography or a percutaneous coronary procedure.

Medicare assigns status C, or carrier priced: there is no national payment, and the Medicare Administrative Contractor sets payment for each claim. The code is an add-on and must be reported with a primary procedure; it is paid within that procedure’s global period. As a diagnostic test, it may be reported with modifier 26 for the interpretation, modifier TC for the technical service, or without a modifier for the global service. Use 92978 for the initial vessel imaged; 92979 identifies each additional vessel.

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 92978 pays more and less in California

The same RVUs, adjusted for each area’s costs. Open a locality for its calculation, history and nearby areas.

29 of 29 payment localities

How the 92978 rate is calculated

Each of 92978’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 92978

The CMS indicators that decide how 92978 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 26

92978 compared with similar codes

How to choose

92979Coronary imagingEach additional vessel

92978 is for the initial vessel imaged; 92979 is for each additional vessel.

92920Coronary angioplastySingle vessel, no stent

92920 describes coronary angioplasty, while 92978 describes imaging inside a coronary vessel. The imaging code is an add-on to a primary procedure.

92928Coronary stentingOne artery or branch

92928 describes coronary stent placement for a lesion; 92978 describes IVUS or OCT imaging and does not represent stent treatment.

Codes related to 92978

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