Billing code 73201: Extremity CTMedicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $199.40 for 73201 nationally in the office. Local office rates run $175.58–$272.29.

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

What 73201 covers

This service is a CT examination of an upper extremity, such as an arm or hand, performed with contrast material. It may be used to evaluate findings such as a soft-tissue mass, suspected infection, or injury when cross-sectional imaging with contrast is requested. A radiologist typically interprets the images; the technical work is performed by imaging staff using CT equipment in a hospital or outpatient imaging setting.

Choose this code when the examination uses contrast without also acquiring images without contrast. When both without- and with-contrast imaging are performed, the corresponding combined-protocol code is 73202. The order and report should support the clinical indication, the upper-extremity anatomy examined, laterality, and contrast protocol. The global service is reported without a component modifier; modifier 26 identifies the interpretation, and modifier TC identifies the equipment and staff service. CMS applies diagnostic imaging multiple-procedure reductions to both components. For bilateral examinations, each side is paid separately at 100%.

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 73201 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

73201 rates by state

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

How the 73201 rate is calculated

Each of 73201’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 73201

The CMS indicators that decide how 73201 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 26

73201 compared with similar codes

How to choose

73200Ct upper extremity w/o dye

73200 is for upper-extremity CT without contrast. 73201 is appropriate when contrast is used and no without-contrast acquisition is performed.

73202Ct uppr extremity w/o&w/dye

73202 represents an upper-extremity CT protocol with imaging both without and with contrast; 73201 represents the with-contrast-only protocol.

73206Ct angio upr extrm w/o&w/dye

73206 is for CT angiography of upper-extremity vessels. 73201 is used for a nonangiographic contrast-enhanced upper-extremity CT.

73219Extremity MRI

73219 reports MRI of an upper extremity with contrast. Choose 73201 when the performed modality is CT rather than MRI.

Codes related to 73201

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