CPT code 97035: Therapeutic ultrasound, constant attendance, each 15 minutes2026 Medicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $14.36 for 97035 nationally in the office. Local office rates run $13.21–$18.18.

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

What 97035 covers

Therapeutic ultrasound delivers acoustic energy to soft tissue through coupling gel and a moving handheld transducer. Physical therapists, occupational therapists, their assistants, and physicians may use it for localized tendon or muscle symptoms and joint stiffness, commonly in office-based outpatient therapy. The treating clinician remains with the patient throughout application rather than leaving a device running unattended. Phonophoresis, in which ultrasound helps deliver a topical medication, is reported with this code when ultrasound is the delivery method.

Assign 15-minute units using Medicare's timed-service rules, including total timed-treatment minutes when other timed services occur during the visit. Record the actual ultrasound minutes, treated area, treatment settings, and skilled purpose linked to the therapy plan. Use the therapy discipline modifier, GP, GO, or GN, as appropriate. This therapy service has no separately reportable professional or technical component; modifiers 26 and TC are not used. Under the therapy multiple procedure payment reduction, Medicare reduces the practice-expense portion for the second and subsequent therapy units 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 97035 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

97035 rates by state

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

How the 97035 rate is calculated

Each of 97035’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 97035

The CMS indicators that decide how 97035 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

97035 compared with similar codes

How to choose

97024DiathermyMicrowave or other diathermy

Diathermy uses electromagnetic energy and is a supervised, untimed modality. Therapeutic ultrasound uses sound waves applied with a handheld transducer and is reported in timed units.

97033IontophoresisEach 15 minutes

Choose iontophoresis when electrical current delivers medication. Choose therapeutic ultrasound when sound waves deliver the medication, as in phonophoresis, or when ultrasound is applied without medication.

97032Electrical stimulationAttended, timed modality

Attended electrical stimulation applies current and requires constant clinician attendance. Therapeutic ultrasound applies acoustic energy through a moving transducer; do not assign the same treatment minutes to both codes.

76882Extremity ultrasoundLimited joint or soft tissue

Code 76882 is a limited diagnostic ultrasound examination of an extremity that produces images for interpretation. Therapeutic ultrasound treats tissue rather than producing diagnostic images.

Codes related to 97035

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