Billing code 93015: Cardiac stress testMedicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $73.48 for 93015 nationally in the office. Local office rates run $66.10–$96.66.

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

What 93015 covers

This service is a cardiovascular stress test, commonly performed on a treadmill using a graded protocol, on a bicycle ergometer, or with a pharmacologic agent when exercise is unsuitable. ECG activity is recorded during stress and recovery while heart rate, blood pressure, symptoms, and arrhythmias are assessed. A physician or other qualified health care professional supervises the test, and a clinician interprets the results and prepares a report. The complete service is commonly furnished in cardiology offices and outpatient clinics with testing staff and equipment.

Report 93015 when one billing entity furnishes supervision, tracing, and interpretation with a report. It is a global-test-only code; use the separate component codes when entities split the work rather than appending modifier 26 or TC. Documentation should identify the exercise protocol or pharmacologic agent, workload or administered dose as appropriate, heart rate and blood pressure response, symptoms, ECG findings, reason for stopping, and signed interpretation. When multiple eligible cardiovascular diagnostic services are furnished for the same patient on the same date, the CMS multiple procedure reduction affects the technical component of the lower-ranked service or services.

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 93015 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

93015 rates by state

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

How the 93015 rate is calculated

Each of 93015’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 93015

The CMS indicators that decide how 93015 is paid alongside other services.

93015 compared with similar codes

How to choose

93016Stress test supervision

Use 93016 for supervision alone when the complete service is split. Use 93015 when one billing entity furnishes supervision, tracing, and interpretation with a report.

93018Stress test interpretation

93018 covers interpretation and reporting of the stress test alone, such as a clinician reading a hospital test. 93015 covers the complete service furnished by one billing entity.

93351Stress echocardiogram

93351 includes stress echocardiography and the associated stress-test supervision, ECG monitoring, and interpretation; do not add 93015 for that work. Use 93015 for a complete stress test without bundled echocardiographic imaging, including one performed with separately reported nuclear imaging.

93000Electrocardiogram (ECG)

93000 is a resting 12-lead ECG with interpretation. Baseline and monitoring ECG recordings performed as part of the stress test are included in 93015.

Codes related to 93015

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