HCPCS code J1265: Dopamine injection, per 40 mg2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in California

CMS doesn’t publish an office rate for J1265 in California.

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

What J1265 covers

Dopamine hydrochloride is a vasoactive medicine generally given by intravenous infusion in acute care settings. Clinicians may use it to support blood pressure or cardiac output in patients with severe hypotension or shock. The medication dose is adjusted to the patient’s response, and the drug code represents the administered medication rather than the infusion service.

CMS excludes J1265 from the physician fee schedule under status E. When Medicare covers the drug, payment is made under another method; as a Part B drug, it is generally priced using CMS’s quarterly Average Sales Price drug files. Coverage is left to the Medicare contractor’s judgment. Each HCPCS unit represents 40 mg of dopamine hydrochloride, so 80 mg administered corresponds to two units. Report the drug units separately from any applicable infusion-administration service.

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 J1265 pays more and less in California

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

29 of 29 payment localities

How the J1265 rate is calculated

Each of J1265’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 J1265

J1265 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.

J1265 compared with similar codes

How to choose

J1250Dobutamine injectionPer 250 mg

J1250 identifies dobutamine, with a different drug and HCPCS unit amount. J1265 is for dopamine hydrochloride, with each unit representing 40 mg.

96365IV drug infusionInitial, first hour

96365 describes an initial therapeutic infusion-administration service, not the dopamine drug. J1265 identifies the administered drug.

96366IV infusion add-on hourTherapeutic or diagnostic, each additional hour

96366 describes additional therapeutic infusion-administration time when applicable. It does not identify or replace the dopamine drug code.

Codes related to J1265

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