CPT code 36568: PICC insertion2026 Medicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $83.84 for 36568 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 36568 covers

Code 36568 represents placement of a peripherally inserted central catheter in a child younger than 5, with the catheter advanced from a peripheral vein into central circulation and no imaging guidance used. Pediatric hospitalists, intensivists, surgeons, and other clinicians trained in vascular access may perform the placement at the bedside or in a procedure setting for therapies such as prolonged intravenous antibiotics or parenteral nutrition. This is not a tunneled catheter or a PICC with a subcutaneous port.

Choose the code based on the patient’s age on the procedure date and whether imaging guidance is used. Document the patient’s age, catheter route and placement, and whether imaging guidance was used. CMS assigns a 0-day global period, so same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included. Modifier 50 is inappropriate for this service. Medicare does not pay an assistant at surgery; 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 36568 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

36568 rates by state

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

How the 36568 rate is calculated

Each of 36568’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 36568

The CMS indicators that decide how 36568 is paid alongside other services.

36568 compared with similar codes

How to choose

36569PICC insertion

Both codes describe PICC placement without imaging guidance. Choose 36568 for patients younger than 5 and 36569 for patients age 5 or older.

36572PICC insertion

This is the imaging-guided PICC insertion code for a child younger than 5. Use 36568 when imaging guidance is not used.

36555Central line insertion

This describes non-tunneled central venous catheter insertion in a patient younger than 5, not placement of a PICC through a peripheral vein.

36570PIVAD insertion

This describes PICC insertion with a subcutaneous port in a child younger than 5; 36568 is for PICC placement without that port.

Codes related to 36568

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