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CPT code 99238: Hospital discharge, 30 minutes or less2026 Medicare rate & RVUs

Report hospital inpatient or observation discharge management on a date after admission when the discharging physician or qualified health care professional spends 30 minutes or less.

CMS RVU26DEffective Oct 1, 2026109 payment localities1.7M Medicare services in 2024

Medicare pays $74.82 for 99238 nationally in a facility.

Medicare rate · 99238

Hospital discharge, 30 minutes or less

Office or facility?

Work RVUs
1.5
Total RVUs
2.24
Global days
XXX

National rate · 2026

$74.82

Facility setting, before claim adjustments.

See every locality for 99238 →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

Medicare pays by the payment locality where the service is performed.

On this page 10 sections
  1. Medicare rate
  2. What 99238 covers
  3. By payment locality
  4. Rate map
  5. How it’s calculated
  6. Payment rules
  7. Similar codes
  8. Related codes
  9. Billing questions
  10. Sources

What 99238 covers

This service covers management of a hospital inpatient or observation discharge on a calendar date after admission. The discharging physician or qualified health care professional may perform a final evaluation, discuss the hospital course and continuing care with the patient or caregivers, reconcile medications, prepare prescriptions and referrals, arrange follow-up, and complete discharge records. Hospitalists and other practitioners responsible for the stay commonly perform this work in the hospital.

Choose 99238 when discharge management takes 30 minutes or less; use 99239 when documented discharge-date time exceeds 30 minutes. Count discharge work performed throughout that date, including preparation of the summary, even when the work is not continuous. If time is not documented, report 99238 rather than the higher-time code. The practitioner responsible for discharge reports one discharge management service; other practitioners who provide medically necessary visits select subsequent hospital inpatient or observation care as appropriate. The record should identify the discharge date and support the evaluation, instructions, medications, and follow-up arrangements.

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 99238 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

99238 office and facility rates by payment locality
Payment localityOfficeFacility
AlabamaUnavailable$70.49
AlaskaUnavailable$99.42
ArizonaUnavailable$73.60
ArkansasUnavailable$69.95
Atlanta, GAUnavailable$76.11
Austin, TXUnavailable$75.66
Bakersfield, CAUnavailable$76.19
Baltimore area, MDUnavailable$78.08
Beaumont, TXUnavailable$72.67
Brazoria, TXUnavailable$74.15

99238 rates by state

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

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Local rates. Clear comparisons.

Hover or focus a tile to see its rate range. Select it to open the state’s fee schedule.

View every state and territory as a table
99238 office rate range by state
State / territoryOffice rate rangeLocalities
AKNo published base rate1
ALNo published base rate1
ARNo published base rate1
AZNo published base rate1
CANo published base rate29
CONo published base rate1
CTNo published base rate1
DCNo published base rate1
DENo published base rate1
FLNo published base rate3
GANo published base rate2
GUNo published base rate1
HINo published base rate1
IANo published base rate1
IDNo published base rate1
ILNo published base rate4
INNo published base rate1
KSNo published base rate1
KYNo published base rate1
LANo published base rate2
MANo published base rate2
MDNo published base rate3
MENo published base rate2
MINo published base rate2
MNNo published base rate1
MONo published base rate3
MSNo published base rate1
MTNo published base rate1
NCNo published base rate1
NDNo published base rate1
NENo published base rate1
NHNo published base rate1
NJNo published base rate2
NMNo published base rate1
NVNo published base rate1
NYNo published base rate5
OHNo published base rate1
OKNo published base rate1
ORNo published base rate2
PANo published base rate2
PRNo published base rate1
RINo published base rate1
SCNo published base rate1
SDNo published base rate1
TNNo published base rate1
TXNo published base rate8
UTNo published base rate1
VANo published base rate2
VINo published base rate1
VTNo published base rate1
WANo published base rate2
WINo published base rate1
WVNo published base rate1
WYNo published base rate1

How the 99238 rate is calculated

Each of 99238’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 · 99238

RVUs × geographic indexes × conversion factor

Office or facility?

Work1.50

1.50 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI

Practice expense0.62

0.62 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI

Malpractice0.12

0.12 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI

Adjusted RVUs

2.2400

Conversion factor

$33.4009

Medicare rate

$74.82

Every GPCI starts at 1.000, the national rate. Enter a ZIP or drag a slider.

Payment rules and modifiers for 99238

99238 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 · 99238

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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99238 isn’t priced in this setting.

99238 compared with similar codes

Compare codes · National

5 codes, side by side

Office or facility?

  • 99238

    Hospital discharge, 30 minutes or less1.5 wRVU

    Not priced

  • 99239

    Hospital discharge day, more than 30 minutes2.15 wRVU

    Not priced

  • 99234

    Hospital care, same-day admission and discharge2 wRVU

    Not priced

  • 99232

    Subsequent hospital visit, moderate MDM or 35 minutes1.59 wRVU

    Not priced

  • 99315

    Discharge management, 30 minutes or less1.5 wRVU

    $85.84

How to choose

99239Hospital discharge dayMore than 30 minutes
Both report hospital inpatient or observation discharge management. Use 99239 when documented discharge-date time exceeds 30 minutes; use 99238 for 30 minutes or less, or when time is not documented.
99234Hospital careSame-day admission and discharge
99234 combines admission and discharge care on the same calendar date and may be used for a qualifying Medicare stay of at least eight hours. Use 99238 when discharge occurs on a later calendar date.
99232Subsequent hospital visitModerate MDM or 35 minutes
99232 reports a moderate-level subsequent hospital inpatient or observation visit selected by MDM or time. 99238 is for the practitioner managing the discharge.
99315Discharge management30 minutes or less
99315 reports discharge management for a nursing facility resident; 99238 reports discharge management for a hospital inpatient or observation patient.

Codes related to 99238

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

Codes related to 99238
CodeHow it relatesNational office range
Same family
99239Hospital discharge day, more than 30 minutesDischarge management when documented discharge-date time exceeds 30 minutes.No office rate
Used instead
99234Hospital care, same-day admission and dischargeSame-date admission and discharge, selected at the lower MDM level or qualifying time.No office rate
99235Hospital care, same-day, moderate complexitySame-date admission and discharge, selected at moderate MDM or qualifying time.No office rate
99236Hospital care, same-date admission and dischargeSame-date admission and discharge, selected at high MDM or qualifying time.No office rate
99315Discharge management, 30 minutes or lessDischarge management for a nursing facility resident rather than a hospital inpatient or observation patient.$79.77–$111.67
Often billed with
99232Subsequent hospital visit, moderate MDM or 35 minutesA different practitioner may report a medically necessary moderate-level subsequent visit on the discharge date.No office rate

99238 billing questions

How do I choose between 99238 and 99239?

Use total discharge management time on the discharge date. Report 99238 for 30 minutes or less, or when time is not documented; 99239 requires documented time exceeding 30 minutes.

Does 99238 apply to observation discharges?

Yes. Hospital inpatient and observation discharge management share this code family.

Can I bill 99238 if the patient was admitted and discharged on the same date?

No. For Medicare, a same-date stay of at least eight hours is reported with 99234–99236; a shorter stay is reported with an initial hospital inpatient or observation care code.

What do other physicians bill on the discharge date?

The practitioner managing the discharge reports 99238 or 99239. Another practitioner who provides a medically necessary visit may report an appropriate subsequent hospital inpatient or observation care code, such as 99231–99233.

Does time spent preparing discharge records count?

Yes. Count discharge management work performed on the discharge date, including preparation of the discharge summary, prescriptions, and referral forms, even when that work is not continuous.

What documentation supports 99238?

Document the discharge date and the work performed, such as the final evaluation, continuing-care instructions, medications, and follow-up arrangements. Document total time when using time to distinguish 99238 from 99239.

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
RVUs for 99238PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv, line 13,027 (RVU26D)

Open CMS sourceHow we calculate rates

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