Billing code 15773: Fat graftingMedicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $626.27 for 15773 nationally in the office and $454.25 in a hospital or facility. Local office rates run $556.46–$795.33.

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

What 15773 covers

A surgeon harvests the patient’s fat using liposuction, prepares it, and injects it to restore or improve soft-tissue volume at the face, eyelids, mouth, neck, ears, orbital area, genitalia, hands, or feet. Plastic and reconstructive surgeons may perform the grafting in an operating room or an outpatient procedural setting, including reconstruction of a contour defect after trauma or surgery. The code describes the grafting service, not liposuction performed solely for fat removal.

Report this code when the injected volume for the listed recipient sites is 25 cc or less. The operative record should identify the recipient site, liposuction harvest, and amount of fat injected; use the related add-on code for each additional 25 cc or part thereof. CMS assigns a 90-day global period, including the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care. When multiple procedures are performed in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and others are subject to the standard 50% reduction. Modifier 50 is inappropriate. Assistant-at-surgery payment is statutorily restricted, and co-surgeon and team-surgery reporting 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 15773 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

15773 rates by state

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

How the 15773 rate is calculated

Each of 15773’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 15773

15773 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

15773 compared with similar codes

How to choose

15771Fat grafting

Use 15773 for the specified smaller recipient sites, such as the face, hands, or feet. Code 15771 covers the trunk, breasts, scalp, arms, or legs and has a different base-volume threshold.

15774Fat grafting

15773 covers the initial 25 cc or less. Use 15774 for each additional 25 cc or part thereof at the same specified recipient-site group.

15769Soft-tissue graft

15773 describes fat harvested by liposuction technique. Code 15769 applies to autologous soft tissue harvested by direct excision.

Codes related to 15773

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