On this page

CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01

91038 Esophageal impedance Medicare reimbursement rates

Reports prolonged catheter-based esophageal impedance monitoring to evaluate reflux episodes and their relationship to symptoms during a recording lasting more than one hour. Compare 91038 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities.

Amounts below use the non-QP conversion factor for participating physicians. These are base physician payments before claim-level adjustments, not patient costs or total hospital charges.

What does Medicare pay for 91038?

The service location and office or facility setting determine which base rate applies. These are the supported base rates for the 109 payment areas shown below, using the same CMS release.

Office / nonfacility

$387.29–$628.37

109 of 109 localities have a supported rate.

Lowest: Arkansas

Highest: San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (San Benito Cnty)

A spread of $241.08 per service.

Facility setting

No supported rate

These are locality ranges, not averages or address-specific quotes. A facility-setting amount covers the physician service; it does not include a hospital’s separate bill. Choose a locality below to inspect its calculation, compare other payment areas, or price a percentage of Medicare.

Find 91038 in your payment locality →

Where 91038 pays more and less

109 payment localities

$387.29 to $628.37

$387.29$507.83$628.37
One dot per payment locality, office / nonfacility. Hover a dot to see the locality; select it to open that rate.

Gastroenterology testing

About 91038: Prolonged esophageal impedance monitoring

Reports prolonged catheter-based esophageal impedance monitoring to evaluate reflux episodes and their relationship to symptoms during a recording lasting more than one hour.

A thin catheter with impedance sensors is passed through the nose into the esophagus to record movement of swallowed material and reflux over a prolonged period. The test can help evaluate persistent heartburn, regurgitation, or other suspected reflux symptoms, including symptoms that continue during acid-suppressing treatment. It is typically performed in a gastroenterology or motility laboratory, with a physician interpreting the recording and reporting the findings.

Select this service for impedance monitoring lasting more than one hour, rather than the shorter-duration service. Documentation should support catheter placement, the recording period, analysis, and interpretation. CMS recognizes professional and technical components: modifier 26 identifies interpretation, modifier TC identifies equipment and staff, and no component modifier represents the global service. The 0-day global period includes same-day preoperative and postoperative care. Modifier 50 is inappropriate. Assistant-at-surgery payment requires documented medical necessity; co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.

CMS billing rules for 91038

Global period
Minor procedure with a 0-day global period: same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included.
Professional and technical components
Diagnostic test with a professional component (modifier 26, interpretation) and a technical component (modifier TC, equipment and staff); billing without a modifier is the global service.
Bilateral procedures
Bilateral adjustment does not apply; the descriptor or anatomy makes modifier 50 inappropriate.
Assistant at surgery
Assistant at surgery is paid only with documentation of medical necessity.
Co-surgeons
Co-surgeons not permitted.
Team surgery
Team surgery not permitted.

Where the value comes from

  • Work RVU1.10 · 8%
  • Practice expense (office) RVU12.17 · 91%
  • Malpractice RVU0.08 · 1%

3.6K

Medicare services in 2024 · #2063 by national volume

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.

91038 compared with similar codes

Office rate ranges across all CMS payment localities, from the same CMS release.

91037

Esophageal impedance

One hour or less

$164.63–$257.55

Both report esophageal impedance testing; choose 91038 when the recording exceeds one hour and 91037 for the shorter-duration service.

91034

Reflux monitoring

Nasal catheter pH test

$177.42–$278.92

91034 measures esophageal acidity with a catheter. This code reports prolonged impedance monitoring, which detects movement of material through the esophagus.

91035

Reflux testing

Mucosa-attached telemetry electrode

$437.09–$702.66

91035 uses a wireless pH electrode for reflux monitoring. This code reports catheter-based impedance monitoring.

91010

Esophageal manometry

Standard pressure study

$216.02–$337.90

91010 evaluates esophageal motility with manometry. This code evaluates reflux-related events with impedance monitoring.

See how rates vary across the country

91038 · Office / nonfacility · Non-QP. Choose a state to explore its payment localities. A range means the amount varies within that state.

Explore a state

Local rates. Clear comparisons.

Hover or focus a tile to see its rate range. Select it to open the state’s fee schedule.

$387.29

$556.34

Color shows the midpoint of each state’s locality range.

View all state and territory rates as a table
State / territoryRate rangeLocalities
AK$489.491
AL$393.931
AR$387.291
AZ$432.921
CA$484.31–$628.3729
CO$471.771
CT$478.501
DC$520.541
DE$440.941
FL$429.36–$466.653
GA$402.51–$453.052
GU$500.471
HI$500.471
IA$409.741
ID$411.971
IL$412.04–$459.204
IN$414.851
KS$405.551
KY$400.551
LA$399.04–$422.282
MA$467.49–$525.972
MD$450.93–$520.543
ME$412.37–$441.262
MI$410.88–$433.512
MN$455.811
MO$389.74–$426.403
MS$388.701
MT$445.901
NC$417.701
ND$444.311
NE$412.941
NH$462.231
NJ$485.03–$513.442
NM$412.701
NV$445.861
NY$424.78–$527.375
OH$410.561
OK$401.811
OR$443.48–$490.932
PA$412.42–$463.752
PR$450.331
RI$459.731
SC$414.611
SD$444.131
TN$407.671
TX$409.13–$469.258
UT$421.241
VA$438.21–$520.542
VI$450.331
VT$440.521
WA$467.28–$539.522
WI$426.981
WV$393.801
WY$445.211

Compare 91038 by payment locality

Find the payment area for your service address, then open its rate page for calculation inputs, release history and the percentage-of-Medicare tool. A city may cross payment-area boundaries; the ZIP lookup above helps resolve the location.

109 of 109 payment localities

91038 office and facility rates by payment locality
Payment localityOfficeFacility
Alabama

Office

$393.93

Facility

Unavailable
Alaska*

Office

$489.49

Facility

Unavailable
Arizona

Office

$432.92

Facility

Unavailable
Arkansas

Office

$387.29

Facility

Unavailable
Atlanta

Office

$453.05

Facility

Unavailable
Austin

Office

$469.25

Facility

Unavailable
Bakersfield

Office

$484.58

Facility

Unavailable
Baltimore/Surr. Cntys

Office

$476.80

Facility

Unavailable
Beaumont

Office

$409.13

Facility

Unavailable
Brazoria

Office

$441.95

Facility

Unavailable
Chicago

Office

$451.65

Facility

Unavailable
Chico

Office

$484.31

Facility

Unavailable
Colorado

Office

$471.77

Facility

Unavailable
Connecticut

Office

$478.50

Facility

Unavailable
Dallas

Office

$444.23

Facility

Unavailable
Dc + Md/Va Suburbs

Office

$520.54

Facility

Unavailable
Delaware

Office

$440.94

Facility

Unavailable
Detroit

Office

$433.51

Facility

Unavailable
East St. Louis

Office

$416.09

Facility

Unavailable
El Centro

Office

$484.32

Facility

Unavailable
Fort Lauderdale

Office

$453.35

Facility

Unavailable
Fort Worth

Office

$440.20

Facility

Unavailable
Fresno

Office

$484.31

Facility

Unavailable
Galveston

Office

$442.89

Facility

Unavailable
Hanford-Corcoran

Office

$484.31

Facility

Unavailable
Hawaii, Guam

Office

$500.47

Facility

Unavailable
Houston

Office

$444.36

Facility

Unavailable
Idaho

Office

$411.97

Facility

Unavailable
Indiana

Office

$414.85

Facility

Unavailable
Iowa

Office

$409.74

Facility

Unavailable
Kansas

Office

$405.55

Facility

Unavailable
Kentucky

Office

$400.55

Facility

Unavailable
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (Los Angeles/Orange Cnty)

Office

$520.90

Facility

Unavailable
Madera

Office

$484.31

Facility

Unavailable
Manhattan

Office

$515.67

Facility

Unavailable
Merced

Office

$484.31

Facility

Unavailable
Metropolitan Boston

Office

$525.97

Facility

Unavailable
Metropolitan Kansas City

Office

$421.04

Facility

Unavailable
Metropolitan Philadelphia

Office

$463.75

Facility

Unavailable
Metropolitan St. Louis

Office

$426.40

Facility

Unavailable
Miami

Office

$466.65

Facility

Unavailable
Minnesota

Office

$455.81

Facility

Unavailable
Mississippi

Office

$388.70

Facility

Unavailable
Modesto

Office

$484.31

Facility

Unavailable
Montana**

Office

$445.90

Facility

Unavailable
Napa

Office

$576.17

Facility

Unavailable
Nebraska

Office

$412.94

Facility

Unavailable
Nevada**

Office

$445.86

Facility

Unavailable
New Hampshire

Office

$462.23

Facility

Unavailable
New Mexico

Office

$412.70

Facility

Unavailable
New Orleans

Office

$422.28

Facility

Unavailable
North Carolina

Office

$417.70

Facility

Unavailable
North Dakota**

Office

$444.31

Facility

Unavailable
Northern Nj

Office

$513.44

Facility

Unavailable
Nyc Suburbs/Long Island

Office

$527.37

Facility

Unavailable
Ohio

Office

$410.56

Facility

Unavailable
Oklahoma

Office

$401.81

Facility

Unavailable
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura

Office

$519.90

Facility

Unavailable
Portland

Office

$490.93

Facility

Unavailable
Poughkpsie/N Nyc Suburbs

Office

$486.73

Facility

Unavailable
Puerto Rico

Office

$450.33

Facility

Unavailable
Queens

Office

$523.42

Facility

Unavailable
Redding

Office

$484.31

Facility

Unavailable
Rest Of California

Office

$484.31

Facility

Unavailable
Rest Of Florida

Office

$429.36

Facility

Unavailable
Rest Of Georgia

Office

$402.51

Facility

Unavailable
Rest Of Illinois

Office

$412.04

Facility

Unavailable
Rest Of Louisiana

Office

$399.04

Facility

Unavailable
Rest Of Maine

Office

$412.37

Facility

Unavailable
Rest Of Maryland

Office

$450.93

Facility

Unavailable
Rest Of Massachusetts

Office

$467.49

Facility

Unavailable
Rest Of Michigan

Office

$410.88

Facility

Unavailable
Rest Of Missouri

Office

$389.74

Facility

Unavailable
Rest Of New Jersey

Office

$485.03

Facility

Unavailable
Rest Of New York

Office

$424.78

Facility

Unavailable
Rest Of Oregon

Office

$443.48

Facility

Unavailable
Rest Of Pennsylvania

Office

$412.42

Facility

Unavailable
Rest Of Texas

Office

$424.91

Facility

Unavailable
Rest Of Washington

Office

$467.28

Facility

Unavailable
Rhode Island

Office

$459.73

Facility

Unavailable
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario

Office

$485.19

Facility

Unavailable
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom

Office

$512.24

Facility

Unavailable
Salinas

Office

$510.43

Facility

Unavailable
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad

Office

$525.45

Facility

Unavailable
San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley (Marin Cnty)

Office

$614.61

Facility

Unavailable
San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley (San Francisco/San Mateo/Alameda/Contra Costa Cnty)

Office

$614.52

Facility

Unavailable
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (San Benito Cnty)

Office

$628.37

Facility

Unavailable
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (Santa Clara Cnty)

Office

$628.00

Facility

Unavailable
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles

Office

$501.79

Facility

Unavailable
Santa Cruz-Watsonville

Office

$532.83

Facility

Unavailable
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara

Office

$513.17

Facility

Unavailable
Santa Rosa-Petaluma

Office

$538.44

Facility

Unavailable
Seattle (King Cnty)

Office

$539.52

Facility

Unavailable
South Carolina

Office

$414.61

Facility

Unavailable
South Dakota**

Office

$444.13

Facility

Unavailable
Southern Maine

Office

$441.26

Facility

Unavailable
Stockton

Office

$484.31

Facility

Unavailable
Suburban Chicago

Office

$459.20

Facility

Unavailable
Tennessee

Office

$407.67

Facility

Unavailable
Utah

Office

$421.24

Facility

Unavailable
Vallejo

Office

$576.03

Facility

Unavailable
Vermont

Office

$440.52

Facility

Unavailable
Virgin Islands

Office

$450.33

Facility

Unavailable
Virginia

Office

$438.21

Facility

Unavailable
Visalia

Office

$484.31

Facility

Unavailable
West Virginia

Office

$393.80

Facility

Unavailable
Wisconsin

Office

$426.98

Facility

Unavailable
Wyoming**

Office

$445.21

Facility

Unavailable
Yuba City

Office

$484.31

Facility

Unavailable

Need rates for a whole code list?

Fee-sheet and API access are in early access. Tell us which codes and locations your team needs.

Explore fee-sheet early access →

91038 billing questions

When should this code be selected instead of 91037?

Use this code when the impedance recording lasts more than one hour. Code 91037 is for the shorter-duration impedance test.

Can the professional and technical services be billed separately?

Yes. Modifier 26 identifies the professional interpretation, and modifier TC identifies the technical service, including equipment and staff. Without either modifier, the claim represents the global service.

What documentation supports the service?

Document catheter placement, the duration of the impedance recording, and the analysis and interpretation. The record should also support the clinical reason for evaluating reflux or related symptoms.

Is modifier 50 appropriate for this test?

No. CMS identifies bilateral adjustment as inappropriate for this service.

How does this differ from catheter-based pH monitoring?

Impedance monitoring evaluates movement of material through the esophagus, including reflux episodes. Code 91034 describes catheter-based pH monitoring, which measures esophageal acidity.

Where these rates come from

FeeBase calculates base physician payments from CMS work, practice-expense, and malpractice RVUs, adjusted by each locality’s geographic indices and the applicable conversion factor. Unavailable or separately priced services are labeled rather than assigned a made-up amount.

Source: RVU26D. Effective 2026-10-01 through the day before 2027-01-01.

RVUs for 91038PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv, line 11,612 (RVU26D)