Billing code 15771: Fat graftingMedicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $662.67 for 15771 nationally in the office and $473.62 in a hospital or facility. Local office rates run $586.00–$845.61.

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

What 15771 covers

A surgeon harvests a patient’s own fat using liposuction, prepares it for transfer, and injects it to restore volume or improve contour at the trunk, breasts, scalp, arms, or legs. It may be used in reconstructive or contour-correction procedures, including treatment of a localized soft-tissue defect. The recipient sites must be among the body areas covered by this code; fat grafting to the face, hands, or feet follows a different code family.

Select this code when the total volume injected at eligible sites is 50 cc or less, measuring the transferred fat rather than the amount harvested. Document the recipient site or sites, harvest method, and injected volume; report 15772 for each additional 50 cc or part thereof. The code has a 90-day global period, including the day-before preoperative visit and related postoperative care. When multiple procedures occur in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and others at 50%. Modifier 50 is inappropriate. Medicare does not pay an assistant at surgery, and co-surgeons and team surgery 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 15771 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

15771 rates by state

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

How the 15771 rate is calculated

Each of 15771’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 15771

15771 has a 90-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

15771 compared with similar codes

How to choose

15772Fat grafting

Use 15771 for the initial 50 cc or less injected at eligible body sites; 15772 reports each additional 50 cc or part thereof.

15773Fat grafting

Use 15773 for the separate recipient-site group that includes areas such as the face, neck, hands, and feet. Its initial volume threshold differs from 15771.

15769Soft-tissue graft

15769 describes autologous soft-tissue grafting harvested by direct excision. Choose 15771 when the fat is harvested using liposuction.

Codes related to 15771

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