HCPCS code J1250: Dobutamine injection, per 250 mg2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in Texas

CMS doesn’t publish an office rate for J1250 in Texas.

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

What J1250 covers

Dobutamine hydrochloride is an intravenous inotropic drug that increases the heart’s pumping strength. It may be administered in acute care to support cardiac output or during pharmacologic cardiac stress testing, including stress echocardiography, when a patient cannot adequately exercise. Hospitals and other clinicians furnishing the drug report the HCPCS drug code for the amount provided; the code identifies the drug quantity, not the infusion time or administration work.

CMS assigns this code physician fee schedule status E, meaning it is excluded from that schedule by regulation. When Medicare covers the drug, payment is handled through another method; the HCPCS pricing method identifies it as a Part B drug generally paid using CMS quarterly Average Sales Price drug files. Special Medicare coverage instructions apply. One unit represents 250 mg, so 500 mg corresponds to two units.

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 J1250 pays more and less in Texas

The same RVUs, adjusted for each area’s costs. Open a locality for its calculation, history and nearby areas.

8 of 8 payment localities

How the J1250 rate is calculated

Each of J1250’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 J1250

J1250 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.

J1250 compared with similar codes

How to choose

J1265Dopamine injectionPer 40 mg

J1265 is for dopamine, not dobutamine. Use the code matching the drug administered.

J1245Dipyridamole injectionPer 10 mg

J1245 identifies dipyridamole injection, a different pharmacologic stress agent. J1250 is for dobutamine hydrochloride.

J0153Adenosine injectionPer 1 mg

J0153 identifies adenosine injection. It is not interchangeable with J1250, which reports dobutamine hydrochloride in 250 mg units.

Codes related to J1250

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

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