HCPCS code Q4281: Wound product2026 Medicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $127.26 for Q4281 nationally in the office. Local office rates run $109.31–$183.51.

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

What Q4281 covers

Q4281 identifies Barrera SL or DL, a wound product reported by square centimeter. Wound-care clinicians, surgeons, and other practitioners who treat chronic ulcers or other wounds may use it as part of a skin-substitute application. The code identifies the specific product; it does not describe the wound site, wound severity, or application technique.

Report Q4281 with the primary application procedure, such as the appropriate code for the wound location and treated area. Document the product used and the square centimeters applied; the application code is selected separately based on site and area. CMS treats Q4281 as an add-on paid within the primary procedure's global period. It is technical-component-only, with interpretation accounted for by a separate code.

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 Q4281 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

Q4281 rates by state

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

How the Q4281 rate is calculated

Each of Q4281’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 Q4281

The CMS indicators that decide how Q4281 is paid alongside other services.

Q4281 compared with similar codes

How to choose

Q4280Amniotic matrix

Q4280 identifies Xcell amnio matrix; Q4281 identifies Barrera SL or DL. The product actually supplied determines which product code is reported.

Q4282Wound product

Q4282 identifies Cygnus dual, while Q4281 identifies Barrera SL or DL. These product codes are not interchangeable based on wound area alone.

15271Skin substitute graft

15271 is the primary application code for qualifying trunk, arm, or leg sites; Q4281 reports the Barrera product by square centimeter and is billed with a primary procedure.

15275Skin substitute

15275 is the primary application code for qualifying head, neck, hand, foot, or genital sites. Choose the application code by site and area, separately from the product code.

Codes related to Q4281

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