HCPCS Q0091: Pap collectionMedicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $46.09 for Q0091 nationally in the office and $15.70 in a hospital or facility. Local office rates run $40.94–$61.57.

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

What Q0091 covers

Q0091 represents the clinician’s work to obtain a cervical or vaginal specimen for a screening Pap test, prepare it, and send it to the laboratory. It is commonly reported when a physician or other qualified practitioner collects the sample during a preventive gynecologic visit. The code covers specimen acquisition and handling, not cytology interpretation or a separately performed pelvic examination.

Report Q0091 when the collection is for screening, rather than evaluation of symptoms or a known abnormality. Documentation should identify the screening purpose, record that the specimen was collected, and support its preparation and conveyance to the laboratory. G0101 may describe a screening pelvic examination performed at the same visit; the laboratory reports cytology under the code matching its preparation and screening method. CMS assigns physician work and practice-expense values to Q0091, with separate office and facility practice-expense inputs.

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 Q0091 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

Q0091 rates by state

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

How the Q0091 rate is calculated

Each of Q0091’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 Q0091

Q0091 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.

Q0091 compared with similar codes

How to choose

G0101Screening pelvic exam

Choose Q0091 for collection and handling of the screening Pap specimen. Choose G0101 for a screening pelvic examination; both services may occur at one visit.

88142Cytopath c/v thin layer

Q0091 covers obtaining and sending the specimen. 88142 describes the laboratory cytology service performed on a cervical or vaginal specimen.

G0123Screen cerv/vag thin layer

Q0091 reports specimen collection. G0123 reports the laboratory’s screening cytology service using thin-layer preparation.

Codes related to Q0091

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