CPT code 97550: Caregiver training, initial 30 minutes2026 Medicare rate & RVUs
Reports face-to-face, individual training for a caregiver on strategies that support a patient's functional performance at home or in the community, with the patient absent.
Medicare pays $52.77 for 97550 nationally in the office and $39.75 in a hospital or facility. Local office rates run $49.93–$70.56.
Medicare rate · 97550
Caregiver training, initial 30 minutes
- Work RVUs
- 1
- Total RVUs
- 1.58
- Global days
- XXX
National rate · 2026
$52.77
Office setting, before claim adjustments.
See every locality for 97550 →Billed by an NP, PA or therapist? →
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 10 sections
What 97550 covers
A qualified health professional trains a caregiver in practical strategies for supporting a patient's function at home or in the community. The patient is not present during this face-to-face service. Training may address safe transfers, mobility, dressing and other daily activities, communication, feeding, swallowing, problem-solving, or safety practices. For example, an occupational therapist may teach a family member how to assist a patient with dressing and transfers after a stroke. Physical and speech-language therapists may also provide training within their areas of practice, in an outpatient clinic or rehabilitation setting.
Report 97550 for the initial 30 minutes of individual caregiver training. Use 97551 for qualifying additional training time, and use 97552 when the caregiver training is provided to a group. Documentation should identify the caregiver, the patient's functional need, the strategies taught, and the face-to-face training time. The physician fee schedule values the service through work, practice-expense, and malpractice components.
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 97550 pays more and less
The same RVUs, adjusted for each area’s costs. Open a locality for its calculation, history and nearby areas.
109 payment localities
$49.93 to $70.56
109 of 109 payment localities
97550 rates by state
Office rate range in each state. Select a state to see its payment localities.
Explore a state
Local rates. Clear comparisons.
Hover or focus a tile to see its rate range. Select it to open the state’s fee schedule.
$49.93
$70.56
Color shows the midpoint of each state’s locality range.
View every state and territory as a table
| State / territory | Office rate range | Localities |
|---|---|---|
| AK | $70.56 | 1 |
| AL | $50.25 | 1 |
| AR | $49.93 | 1 |
| AZ | $52.14 | 1 |
| CA | $55.01–$64.71 | 29 |
| CO | $54.32 | 1 |
| CT | $54.98 | 1 |
| DC | $58.00 | 1 |
| DE | $52.68 | 1 |
| FL | $52.10–$54.06 | 3 |
| GA | $50.78–$53.25 | 2 |
| GU | $55.24 | 1 |
| HI | $55.24 | 1 |
| IA | $50.95 | 1 |
| ID | $51.07 | 1 |
| IL | $51.31–$53.78 | 4 |
| IN | $51.21 | 1 |
| KS | $50.78 | 1 |
| KY | $50.63 | 1 |
| LA | $50.57–$51.70 | 2 |
| MA | $54.25–$57.80 | 2 |
| MD | $53.31–$58.00 | 3 |
| ME | $51.12–$52.48 | 2 |
| MI | $51.16–$52.34 | 2 |
| MN | $53.09 | 1 |
| MO | $50.14–$51.86 | 3 |
| MS | $50.04 | 1 |
| MT | $52.77 | 1 |
| NC | $51.38 | 1 |
| ND | $52.58 | 1 |
| NE | $51.10 | 1 |
| NH | $53.51 | 1 |
| NJ | $55.89–$57.95 | 2 |
| NM | $51.26 | 1 |
| NV | $52.74 | 1 |
| NY | $51.72–$58.80 | 5 |
| OH | $51.12 | 1 |
| OK | $50.66 | 1 |
| OR | $52.60–$55.34 | 2 |
| PA | $51.19–$54.22 | 2 |
| PR | $52.98 | 1 |
| RI | $54.00 | 1 |
| SC | $51.28 | 1 |
| SD | $52.55 | 1 |
| TN | $50.89 | 1 |
| TX | $51.04–$53.91 | 8 |
| UT | $51.60 | 1 |
| VA | $52.35–$58.00 | 2 |
| VI | $52.98 | 1 |
| VT | $52.42 | 1 |
| WA | $54.14–$58.70 | 2 |
| WI | $51.74 | 1 |
| WV | $50.42 | 1 |
| WY | $52.69 | 1 |
How the 97550 rate is calculated
Each of 97550’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 · 97550
RVUs × geographic indexes × conversion factor
Work1.00
1.00 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI
Practice expense0.57
0.57 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI
Malpractice0.01
0.01 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI
Adjusted RVUs
1.5800
Conversion factor
$33.4009
Medicare rate
$52.77
Every GPCI starts at 1.000, the national rate. Enter a ZIP or drag a slider.
Payment rules and modifiers for 97550
97550 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 · 97550
Which rate does Medicare pay?
The POS code on the claim line (CMS-1500 box 24B).
POS 11 · non-facility rate · national
$52.77
- Non-facility (office)
- $52.77
- Facility
- $39.75
Higher because the practice carries its own overhead.
97550 compared with similar codes
Compare codes · National
5 codes, side by side
How to choose
- 97551Caregiver trainingEach additional 15 minutes
- 97550 covers the initial 30 minutes of individual caregiver training; 97551 reports qualifying additional time.
- 97552Caregiver trainingGroup, per 15 minutes
- Choose 97550 for individual caregiver training and 97552 when the caregiver training is provided to a group.
- 97535Self-care trainingADL and home management, per 15 minutes
- 97550 trains a caregiver without the patient present. 97535 describes self-care or home-management training provided to the patient.
- 97530Therapeutic activitiesOne-on-one, each 15 minutes
- 97530 covers therapeutic activities performed with the patient; 97550 is caregiver training conducted without the patient present.
97550 billing questions
Is the patient present during 97550?
No. The service is face-to-face caregiver training provided without the patient present.
When should 97551 be reported with 97550?
97551 is the add-on code for qualifying additional caregiver-training time after the initial 30 minutes reported with 97550.
How does 97550 differ from 97552?
97550 describes individual caregiver training. Use 97552 for caregiver training delivered to a group.
How does 97550 differ from 97535?
97550 is training for a caregiver while the patient is absent. 97535 is self-care or home-management training provided to the patient.
What should the note support?
Document who received the training, the patient's functional need, the techniques taught, and the face-to-face time spent training the caregiver.
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
Show the CMS file lines behind this rate
Fee sheets
Put 97550 and the rest of your codes on one sheet
Your codes at your locality, with payer contracts beside Medicare.
Build my fee sheet