CPT code 99001: Specimen handling, patient to laboratory2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in New York
Identifies handling or conveyance of a specimen from a patient outside the physician’s office to a laboratory; Medicare bundles it into other services.
CMS doesn’t publish an office rate for 99001 in New York.
Medicare allowed amount for participating (non-QP) physicians, before deductible, coinsurance and claim adjustments. Not a patient’s bill or a hospital charge.
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On this page 9 sections
What 99001 covers
CPT 99001 identifies handling or conveyance of a specimen from a patient outside the physician’s office to a laboratory. It distinguishes this patient-to-laboratory service from 99000, which concerns specimen handling between a physician’s office and a laboratory. The code addresses the specimen’s preparation or movement for laboratory transfer, rather than laboratory analysis. It applies to the transfer of a patient specimen originating outside the office, not to a particular laboratory test.
Medicare assigns 99001 physician fee schedule status B (bundled). Medicare never pays it separately; its payment is included in payment for other services. Reporting 99001 does not create a separate Medicare payment for this specimen handling service. The payment status applies to the handling code, not the laboratory test.
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 99001 pays more and less in New York
The same RVUs, adjusted for each area’s costs. Open a locality for its calculation, history and nearby areas.
| Payment locality | Office | Facility |
|---|---|---|
| Manhattan, NY | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| NYC suburbs and Long Island, NY | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| Poughkeepsie and northern NYC suburbs, NY | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| Queens, NY | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| Rest of New York | Unavailable | Unavailable |
How the 99001 rate is calculated
Each of 99001’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 · 99001
RVUs × geographic indexes × conversion factor
Work0.00
0.00 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI
Practice expense0.00
0.00 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI
Malpractice0.00
0.00 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI
Adjusted RVUs
0.0000
Conversion factor
$33.4009
Medicare rate
$0.00
Every GPCI starts at 1.000, the national rate. Enter a ZIP or drag a slider.
Payment rules and modifiers for 99001
99001 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 · 99001
Which rate does Medicare pay?
The POS code on the claim line (CMS-1500 box 24B).
POS 11 · non-facility rate · national
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99001 isn’t priced in this setting.
99001 compared with similar codes
Compare codes · National
4 codes, side by side
How to choose
- 99000Specimen handlingOffice-to-lab transfer
- Use 99001 for handling or conveyance from a patient outside the physician’s office to a laboratory. Use 99000 for specimen handling from the physician’s office.
- 99002Device handlingPhysician or QHP service
- 99001 concerns a patient specimen handled for laboratory transfer; 99002 concerns handling related to a device.
- 36415VenipunctureRoutine venous sample
- 36415 describes venous blood collection by venipuncture. 99001 describes subsequent specimen handling or conveyance from outside the office.
99001 billing questions
When should 99001 be chosen instead of 99000?
Use 99001 for handling or conveyance of a specimen from a patient outside the physician’s office to a laboratory. Code 99000 concerns specimen handling from a physician’s office to a laboratory.
Does Medicare pay 99001 separately?
No. Medicare assigns status B, so payment for the service is included in payment for other services.
Does 99001 describe specimen collection or laboratory testing?
It describes handling or conveyance for laboratory transfer, not laboratory analysis.
Can a modifier make 99001 separately payable by Medicare?
No. Medicare status B means the code is never paid separately.
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
Fee sheets · Coming soon
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Your codes at your locality, with payer contracts beside Medicare.
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