HCPCS G9978: Remote E/MMedicare rate & RVUs
Reports a 10-minute remote evaluation and management service for a new patient, distinguished from longer-duration and established-patient remote E/M services.
Medicare pays $52.11 for G9978 nationally in the office and $23.71 in a hospital or facility. Local office rates run $46.33–$68.00.
Medicare rate · G9978
Remote E/M
Swap in your local Medicare rate.
- Work RVUs
- 0.48
- Total RVUs
- 1.56
- Global days
- XXX
National rate · 2026
$52.11
Office setting, before claim adjustments.
See every locality for G9978 → · Billed by an NP, PA or therapist? →
Medicare allowed amount for participating (non-QP) physicians, before deductible, coinsurance and claim adjustments. Not a patient’s bill or a hospital charge.
On this page 10 sections
What G9978 covers
G9978 identifies a remote evaluation and management service for a new patient, with a 10-minute duration. It distinguishes this service from the longer-duration new-patient tiers and from remote E/M services for established patients. The code’s descriptor does not specify a particular clinical specialty, diagnosis, or remote communication technology, so the record should describe the service actually provided rather than infer those details from the code alone.
Select G9978 when the patient meets the applicable new-patient criteria and the documented remote E/M service supports the 10-minute tier. The record should identify the remote encounter, the patient’s status, the work performed, and the time supporting the selected tier. CMS assigns work, practice expense, and malpractice relative value units to the code in the Physician Fee Schedule. The supplied CMS facts list no additional payment rules for G9978.
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 G9978 pays more and less
The same RVUs, adjusted for each area’s costs. Open a locality for its calculation, history and nearby areas.
109 payment localities
$46.33 to $68.00
109 of 109 payment localities
G9978 rates by state
Office rate range in each state. Select a state to see its payment localities.
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.
$46.33
$61.44
Color shows the midpoint of each state’s locality range.
View every state and territory as a table
| State / territory | Office rate range | Localities |
|---|---|---|
| AK | $61.44 | 1 |
| AL | $46.98 | 1 |
| AR | $46.33 | 1 |
| AZ | $50.76 | 1 |
| CA | $54.72–$68.00 | 29 |
| CO | $54.04 | 1 |
| CT | $55.47 | 1 |
| DC | $59.26 | 1 |
| DE | $51.57 | 1 |
| FL | $51.61–$56.57 | 3 |
| GA | $48.81–$53.10 | 2 |
| GU | $55.93 | 1 |
| HI | $55.93 | 1 |
| IA | $48.00 | 1 |
| ID | $48.32 | 1 |
| IL | $50.27–$54.98 | 4 |
| IN | $48.59 | 1 |
| KS | $47.84 | 1 |
| KY | $48.15 | 1 |
| LA | $48.10–$50.37 | 2 |
| MA | $53.76–$59.15 | 2 |
| MD | $52.51–$59.26 | 3 |
| ME | $48.62–$51.06 | 2 |
| MI | $49.40–$52.29 | 2 |
| MN | $51.68 | 1 |
| MO | $47.35–$50.47 | 3 |
| MS | $46.85 | 1 |
| MT | $52.10 | 1 |
| NC | $49.10 | 1 |
| ND | $50.91 | 1 |
| NE | $48.24 | 1 |
| NH | $53.25 | 1 |
| NJ | $56.08–$58.70 | 2 |
| NM | $49.68 | 1 |
| NV | $51.80 | 1 |
| NY | $49.81–$61.29 | 5 |
| OH | $49.16 | 1 |
| OK | $48.01 | 1 |
| OR | $51.37–$55.63 | 2 |
| PA | $49.20–$54.18 | 2 |
| PR | $52.45 | 1 |
| RI | $53.32 | 1 |
| SC | $49.22 | 1 |
| SD | $50.77 | 1 |
| TN | $48.08 | 1 |
| TX | $48.90–$53.89 | 8 |
| UT | $49.86 | 1 |
| VA | $50.94–$59.26 | 2 |
| VI | $52.45 | 1 |
| VT | $50.77 | 1 |
| WA | $53.64–$60.27 | 2 |
| WI | $49.29 | 1 |
| WV | $48.51 | 1 |
| WY | $51.58 | 1 |
How the G9978 rate is calculated
Each of G9978’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.
How the rate is built · G9978
RVUs × geographic indexes × conversion factor
Swap in your local Medicare rate.
Work 0.48Practice expense 1.02Malpractice 0.06
All indexes start at 1.000 (the national rate). Enter a ZIP or drag a slider.
Payment rules and modifiers for G9978
G9978 has no global surgery period, no multiple-procedure, bilateral or assistant-at-surgery adjustment, and no professional/technical split. What changes the payment is where the service happens: the place of service on the claim decides whether Medicare pays the office or the facility rate.
Place of service · G9978
Which rate does Medicare pay?
The POS code on the claim line (CMS-1500 box 24B).
Non-facility (office) rate · national
$52.11
The facility rate would be $23.71 (+$28.40). In a facility, the facility bills its own costs separately.
G9978 compared with similar codes
Compare codes
G9978 vs G9979 vs G9980 vs G9983: national Medicare rates
Swap in your local Medicare rate.
How to choose
- G9979Remote E/M
- Both codes describe remote E/M for new patients, but G9979 is the 20-minute tier rather than the 10-minute tier.
- G9980Remote E/M
- G9980 is the 30-minute new-patient remote E/M tier; G9978 is the 10-minute tier.
- G9983Remote E/M
- G9983 describes the 10-minute remote E/M tier for an established patient. G9978 is for a new patient.
G9978 billing questions
How does G9978 differ from G9979?
Both are remote E/M services for new patients. G9978 is the 10-minute tier; G9979 is the 20-minute tier.
Can G9978 be used for an established patient?
No. G9978 is identified as a new-patient service; G9983 is the 10-minute remote E/M code for an established patient.
What time should the documentation support?
Document the time supporting the 10-minute tier, along with the remote E/M work performed and the patient’s new-patient status.
Does the descriptor specify audio, video, or another remote format?
No specific communication technology is identified in the supplied descriptor. Document the remote service that was actually provided.
Should G9978 be selected based on complexity instead of time?
The supplied descriptor distinguishes G9978 by its 10-minute duration, not by a stated complexity level. Choose the tier supported by the service documentation.
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
Show the CMS file lines behind this rate
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