CPT code 93505: Heart biopsy, endomyocardial tissue sampling2026 Medicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $648.65 for 93505 nationally in the office. Local office rates run $570.72–$876.55.

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

What 93505 covers

A cardiologist obtains small samples of heart muscle by advancing a biopsy catheter through vascular access into the heart, usually to sample the right ventricle. The specimens are sent for laboratory examination. A common indication is surveillance for rejection after heart transplantation; clinicians may also request tissue evaluation for suspected myocarditis or other myocardial disease. The service is typically performed in a cardiac catheterization laboratory or hospital procedure setting.

Report 93505 for the biopsy procedure, supported by documentation of the clinical indication and tissue sampling. When the diagnostic service is divided, modifier 26 identifies the professional interpretation and modifier TC identifies the technical service; without either modifier, the claim represents the global service. The 0-day global period includes same-day preoperative and postoperative care. When other procedures are performed in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures are subject to the standard multiple procedure reduction. Modifier 50 is inappropriate. Assistant-at-surgery payment requires documented medical necessity; co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.

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 93505 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

93505 rates by state

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

How the 93505 rate is calculated

Each of 93505’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 93505

The CMS indicators that decide how 93505 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 26

93505 compared with similar codes

How to choose

93451Right heart cathHemodynamic measurements

93451 reports right heart catheterization and hemodynamic measurements. Use 93505 for myocardial tissue sampling; both may be reported when each service is performed and supported.

93503Heart catheterMonitoring catheter placement

93503 concerns placement of a flow-directed heart catheter, not tissue sampling. It does not describe an endomyocardial biopsy.

88307Tissue pathology examLevel V specimen

88307 represents a surgical pathology examination of tissue. It is not the catheter-based collection of the myocardial specimen reported with 93505.

Codes related to 93505

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