Billing code 12045: Intermediate wound repairMedicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $453.58 for 12045 nationally in the office and $268.54 in a hospital or facility. Local office rates run $398.82–$592.30.

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

What 12045 covers

This code describes intermediate closure of one or more wounds on the neck, hands, feet, or external genitalia, with a combined repair length of 12.6 to 20 centimeters. The repair involves more than skin-edge approximation, such as layered closure that includes subcutaneous tissue or superficial fascia. Physicians and other qualified practitioners commonly perform these repairs in emergency departments, clinics, and operating rooms after traumatic lacerations or wound excisions.

Choose the code based on the wound’s anatomic group, repair complexity, and total repaired length—not length alone. Add lengths of wounds in this anatomic group when determining the code level, and document sites, measurements, tissue layers repaired, and closure technique. Medicare assigns a 10-day global period, including related postoperative visits during that period. When multiple procedures occur in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures are subject to the standard multiple-procedure reduction. Modifier 50 is inappropriate; assistant-at-surgery payment is restricted, and co-surgery and team-surgery payment are not permitted.

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 12045 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

12045 rates by state

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

How the 12045 rate is calculated

Each of 12045’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 12045

12045 has a 10-day global period: related visits in that window are included in the surgery payment.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 51

12045 compared with similar codes

How to choose

12044Intermediate repair

Both codes cover intermediate repair in the same anatomic group. Use 12044 when the combined repaired length falls in its shorter tier rather than the 12.6-to-20-centimeter tier.

12046Intermediate repair

This is the next longer length tier for intermediate repair of the neck, hands, feet, or external genitalia. Select by the combined repaired length.

12035Wound repair

This code is for intermediate repairs in a different anatomic group, including the scalp, trunk, and extremities other than hands and feet. Choose by the repair site, not by length alone.

12055Wound repair

This code covers intermediate repairs of the face and mucous membranes. Use it for those sites rather than the neck, hands, feet, or external genitalia.

Codes related to 12045

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