HCPCS G9979: Remote E/MMedicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $75.15 for G9979 nationally in the office and $41.08 in a hospital or facility. Local office rates run $68.13–$95.94.

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

What G9979 covers

G9979 represents a remote evaluation-and-management encounter designated for a new patient and a 20-minute service level. It describes clinical work in which a clinician evaluates a new patient’s concern through a remote interaction. The code label does not identify a specific communication platform or clinical specialty. Documentation should show the concern assessed, the remote interaction, and the resulting clinical assessment or plan.

Select G9979 based on both the patient category and the 20-minute level, rather than choosing an established-patient entry or a different time level. Record the time basis for the service, the work performed, and the patient’s status under the applicable new-patient coding definition. CMS assigns work, practice-expense, and malpractice relative value units to this code, with separate office and facility practice-expense values.

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 G9979 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

G9979 rates by state

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

How the G9979 rate is calculated

Each of G9979’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 G9979

G9979 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.

G9979 compared with similar codes

How to choose

G9978Remote E/M

Both identify remote E/M for a new patient, but G9978 is the 10-minute level rather than the 20-minute level.

G9980Remote E/M

Both identify remote E/M for a new patient; G9980 is the 30-minute level.

G9983Remote E/M

G9983 is an established-patient remote E/M entry at the 10-minute level; G9979 is for a new patient at the 20-minute level.

Codes related to G9979

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