In this guide
Three service families, not three interchangeable prices
97110
Therapeutic exercise
Exercise directed at an impairment
Think of the exercise-related part of treatment: building the physical capacity needed for recovery. The documented purpose of the intervention matters; seeing an exercise in a session does not, by itself, establish the code.
97530
Therapeutic activities
Activity directed at functional performance
This family concerns activity-based treatment aimed at function. Compare the treatment objective and the work documented with the exercise service; a movement can look similar while its purpose and delivery differ.
97140
Manual therapy
A manual treatment technique
This family identifies manual treatment. It is a different service category from exercise or activity-based treatment, not a higher or lower level of either one.
For 97110 versus 97530, comparing reimbursement is a separate task from deciding which service was performed. A larger fee is not evidence that a different code is appropriate. Use the current coding requirements and applicable payer guidance alongside the treatment record.
What does Medicare pay in your locality?
The examples below use the same accepted release, payment area and non-QP basis. They are office/nonfacility base amounts before visit-level reductions, modifiers and patient cost sharing.
Chicago · RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
A displayed fee does not confirm coverage or the payable amount for a particular visit. Unavailable means we cannot show a supported PFS base rate; it is not a zero-dollar payment.
Why adding unit rates is not a visit estimate
Three questions come before a payment total: which services were performed, how many units are reportable, and which payment rules apply. The rate lookup addresses the base amount. It does not answer the first two questions.
- Establish the units. Use documented treatment time and the applicable rules. Do not assume every activity in a session creates a separate billable unit.
- Apply therapy MPPR where eligible. The reduction applies to practice expense on subsequent units, including repeated units. Work and malpractice components are not reduced by this rule.
- Check the remaining adjustments. Assistant modifiers, code-pair edits, coverage and other claim rules require their own review. A base rate plus MPPR is still not a full claim adjudication.
Have a code list and unit counts?
The calculator shows the practice-expense reduction separately and keeps this payment locality.
Open the therapy MPPR calculator →Sources and calculation boundaries
The service overview is a plain-language orientation. The CGS resource below is contractor guidance, not a statement that its local coverage rules apply everywhere. Use the policy for the service date and jurisdiction. The amounts above come from FeeBase’s accepted CMS source and shared rate engine.