Billing code 33952: ECMO cannulationMedicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $384.78 for 33952 nationally in a facility.

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

What 33952 covers

Code 33952 describes percutaneous placement of peripheral cannulae to connect a patient younger than five to an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or extracorporeal life support circuit. Cannulation may be needed for severe cardiac or respiratory failure when support outside the body is required. A physician experienced in ECMO access, often a surgeon, performs the procedure in a hospital setting such as an intensive care unit or operating room. Peripheral access uses vessels outside the chest; the selected vessels depend on the patient and clinical circumstances.

Select this code when the patient is younger than five and the documented approach is percutaneous peripheral cannulation. Distinguish it from the older-patient and open-placement codes. The record should support the patient’s age, access approach, cannula placement, and clinical reason for ECMO/ECLS. The 0-day global period includes same-day preoperative and postoperative care. When multiple procedures occur in one 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 requires documented medical necessity; 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 33952 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

33952 rates by state

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

How the 33952 rate is calculated

Each of 33952’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 33952

The CMS indicators that decide how 33952 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 51

33952 compared with similar codes

How to choose

33951ECMO cannulation

Use 33951 for percutaneous peripheral cannulation in a patient age five or older; 33952 is for a patient younger than five.

33953ECMO cannulation

33953 describes open peripheral cannulation in a patient age five or older. Code 33952 is percutaneous and for a patient younger than five.

33954ECMO cannulation

Both codes apply to patients younger than five; 33952 describes percutaneous placement, while 33954 describes open placement.

33946ECMO initiation

33946 describes venovenous ECMO/ECLS initiation. Code 33952 reports percutaneous peripheral cannula placement in a patient younger than five.

Codes related to 33952

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