Billing code 35702: Artery explorationMedicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $372.09 for 35702 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 35702 covers

A vascular or trauma surgeon uses an open operative approach to expose and assess an artery in the arm when the clinical concern requires direct evaluation, such as suspected arterial injury or unexplained impaired blood flow. The service is performed in an operative setting. This code describes exploration that ends without surgical repair of the artery; it is not the code for a repair performed after the vessel is exposed.

Select the code based on the artery’s upper-extremity location and the service actually completed. The operative report should identify the artery, the reason for exploration, the findings, and whether repair followed. CMS assigns a 90-day global period, including the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care. When multiple procedures occur in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and the others at 50%. For bilateral reporting with modifier 50, payment is at 150%. Assistant-at-surgery services may be paid; co-surgeons are paid only with supporting documentation, and team surgery is 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 35702 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

35702 rates by state

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

How the 35702 rate is calculated

Each of 35702’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 35702

35702 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 50

35702 compared with similar codes

How to choose

35701Arterial exploration

This code is for an upper extremity artery; 35701 is for exploration of a neck artery without subsequent repair.

35703Artery exploration

This code applies to an upper extremity artery; 35703 applies to a lower extremity artery.

35700Bypass reoperation

Use 35700 for reoperation on a bypass graft, not exploration of an upper extremity artery.

35206Vessel repair

Use 35206 when a direct upper extremity vessel repair is performed; this code is for exploration that does not proceed to repair.

Codes related to 35702

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