Billing code 78601: Brain imagingMedicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $192.72 for 78601 nationally in the office. Local office rates run $167.10–$270.24.

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

What 78601 covers

This nuclear medicine service combines imaging of tracer movement through the brain’s blood supply with images of tracer distribution in the brain. It is performed in a nuclear medicine department, commonly in a hospital setting, by technologists who acquire the study for interpretation by a qualified physician. The documented study includes fewer than four views; dynamic frames during the flow phase are not a substitute for the view count used to distinguish this service from higher-view codes.

Select the code when the performed study includes both flow imaging and brain imaging, and the recorded views meet this code’s range. The report should identify the flow and imaging portions and document the acquired views. CMS recognizes separate professional and technical components: modifier 26 identifies the interpretation, modifier TC identifies equipment and staff, and billing without either modifier represents the global 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 78601 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

78601 rates by state

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

How the 78601 rate is calculated

Each of 78601’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 78601

The CMS indicators that decide how 78601 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 26

78601 compared with similar codes

How to choose

78600Brain imaging

Choose 78600 when brain imaging is performed without a vascular-flow phase. Choose 78601 when the examination includes flow imaging as well.

78605Brain imaging

78605 is for brain imaging without flow imaging when four or more views are documented; 78601 includes flow imaging and fewer than four views.

78606Brain imaging

Both codes include flow imaging, but 78606 is for four or more views. 78601 is for fewer than four.

78610Brain flow scan

78610 covers flow imaging alone. 78601 includes both the flow phase and brain imaging.

Codes related to 78601

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