Billing code 70551: Brain MRIMedicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $195.40 for 70551 nationally in the office. Local office rates run $173.48–$262.77.

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

What 70551 covers

This study images the cerebral hemispheres, posterior fossa, and brainstem using noncontrast sequences such as T1, T2, FLAIR, diffusion-weighted, and susceptibility imaging. It is ordered for suspected acute stroke, new seizures, cognitive decline, red-flag headache, and follow-up of known structural lesions. Focused noncontrast examinations of the internal auditory canals or pituitary are also reported within the brain MRI series. Technologists acquire the images in hospital radiology departments, emergency settings, and freestanding imaging centers, and a radiologist or neuroradiologist interprets them.

Report 70551 when no contrast is administered for the brain MRI. The report should state the indication, sequences obtained, findings, and impression. Medicare recognizes a professional component (modifier 26) for interpretation and a technical component (modifier TC) for the scanner, staff, and supplies. Billing without a modifier represents the global service when one entity furnishes both components. When eligible diagnostic imaging services are performed for the same patient on the same date, the multiple procedure reduction applies to professional and technical components, with each component ranked separately.

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 70551 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

70551 rates by state

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

How the 70551 rate is calculated

Each of 70551’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 70551

The CMS indicators that decide how 70551 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 26

70551 compared with similar codes

How to choose

70553Brain MRI

70553 applies when noncontrast brain imaging is followed by contrast-enhanced brain imaging in the same session. Use 70551 when the brain MRI is performed without contrast.

70544Head MRA

70544 is MR angiography of intracranial vessels; 70551 evaluates brain tissue. Both can be reported when both distinct studies are performed and documented.

70450Head CT

70450 is a CT scan of the head without contrast. Choose by modality: CT uses x-rays, while 70551 uses magnetic resonance.

70540MRI

70540 covers noncontrast MRI of the orbits, face, or neck. Noncontrast studies of the brain, pituitary, or internal auditory canals are reported with 70551.

Codes related to 70551

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