Billing code 76942: Ultrasound needle guidanceMedicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $64.13 for 76942 nationally in the office. Local office rates run $57.69–$84.06.

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

What 76942 covers

This service covers the imaging portion of a needle procedure: the operator uses ultrasound to locate the target, plan a path, and watch the needle reach its destination. Typical pairings include percutaneous liver and kidney biopsies, needle biopsies of superficial lymph nodes or soft tissue masses, cyst aspirations, and placement of localization devices. Radiologists, interventional specialists, nephrologists, and surgeons perform it in hospital outpatient departments, imaging centers, ASCs, and offices.

Report 76942 with a separate procedure code when ultrasound guidance is not included or bundled with that procedure. Image-guided fine needle aspiration, image-guided breast biopsy, paracentesis, thoracentesis, and ultrasound-guided joint procedure codes already account for guidance. Documentation should identify the target, describe ultrasound visualization of needle placement, and include a retained image and report. CMS prices professional and technical components separately: modifier 26 identifies the documented professional guidance service, modifier TC identifies equipment and staff, and billing without either modifier represents the complete service.

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 76942 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

76942 rates by state

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

How the 76942 rate is calculated

Each of 76942’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 76942

The CMS indicators that decide how 76942 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 26

76942 compared with similar codes

How to choose

76937Vascular access guidance

76937 covers qualifying ultrasound guidance for vascular access, including vessel patency evaluation and visualization of needle entry. Use 76942 for guidance into a nonvascular target, such as an organ, mass, or fluid collection.

76940Us guide tissue ablation

76940 describes ultrasound guidance and monitoring for tissue ablation. Use 76942 for guidance of needle placement for a biopsy, aspiration, injection, or localization device rather than ablation.

76998Us guide intraop

76998 describes ultrasound guidance during an operation. Code 76942 describes ultrasound guidance for needle placement, such as a percutaneous biopsy or aspiration.

77012CT guidance

Both guide needle placement, but 77012 uses CT and 76942 uses ultrasound. Choose the code for the modality documented as guiding the needle.

Codes related to 76942

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