CPT code 98966: Telephone assessment, 5–10 minutes2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in New Mexico

In New Mexico, Medicare pays $13.35 for 98966 in the office and $10.28 when it’s performed in a hospital or facility.

Check a contract rate as a % of Medicare · 98966 nationwide

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

What 98966 covers

This code describes a brief telephone conversation in which a nonphysician qualified health care professional assesses and manages a clinical concern for an established patient, or the patient’s parent or guardian. A nurse practitioner or physician assistant might use it to address a symptom question or discuss a care issue that can be managed by phone. The service involves clinical judgment, not simply scheduling, relaying a routine message, or providing administrative information. It is a telephone service, not an exchange through an online patient portal.

Select this level when the documented service time is 5 through 10 minutes; use the longer time levels when the conversation meets their thresholds. The record should identify the concern, the assessment or management provided, and the time spent. CPT reporting conditions also require that the call not arise from a related assessment and management service in the previous seven days or lead to a related service or procedure within the next 24 hours or soonest available appointment. CMS assigns work, practice-expense, and malpractice values, with separate office and facility practice-expense inputs.

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.

How New Mexico compares for 98966

Across 109 of 109 payment localities, the office rate for 98966 runs from $12.83 in Arkansas to $18.05 in Alaska. New Mexico pays $13.35. The RVUs are the same everywhere; the geographic indexes change the dollars.

Every other payment area

98966 rates by state

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

See 98966 in every payment locality

How the 98966 rate is calculated

Each of 98966’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 98966

98966 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.

Codes related to 98966

Related codes aren’t interchangeable: bill the code that matches the service performed.

How 98966 has changed in New Mexico

Price 98966 for an earlier date of service

Where the New Mexico rate applies

New Mexico is a Medicare payment area, not a city. Our Census mapping connects it to 528 cities and communities in New Mexico. Some span more than one payment area; confirm with the service ZIP.

• Abeytas
• Abiquiu
• Acomita Lake
• Adelino
• Agua Fria
• Alamillo
• Alamo
• Alamogordo

Browse all communities in New Mexico

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