No office rate
Use 37615 when the major artery being ligated is in the neck. This code is selected for a major artery located in the chest.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
37616 Arterial ligation Medicare reimbursement rates in Alabama
Reports operative ligation of a major artery located in the chest, commonly when a surgeon must permanently interrupt the vessel to control bleeding. Compare 37616 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Alabama.
Amounts below use the non-QP conversion factor for participating physicians. These are base physician payments before claim-level adjustments, not patient costs or total hospital charges.
What does Medicare pay for 37616 in Alabama?
Alabama has 1 payment locality in this comparison. Use the service location to choose the applicable amount. These are the supported base rates for the payment area shown below, using the same CMS release.
Office / nonfacility
No supported rate
Facility setting
$967.16
1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.
Payment area: Alabama
One mapped payment locality.
These are locality ranges, not averages or address-specific quotes. A facility-setting amount covers the physician service; it does not include a hospital’s separate bill. Choose a locality below to inspect its calculation, compare other payment areas, or price a percentage of Medicare.
Vascular surgery
About 37616: Major thoracic artery ligation
Reports operative ligation of a major artery located in the chest, commonly when a surgeon must permanently interrupt the vessel to control bleeding.
This service involves surgically exposing and tying off a major arterial trunk within the chest. It is typically performed by a vascular, cardiothoracic, or trauma surgeon in an operating room when permanent interruption is needed, commonly to control operative or traumatic hemorrhage. The documented vessel must be a major artery in the chest; the incision or route of access alone does not determine the code.
Select this code by the artery’s location and the work performed, rather than by the underlying diagnosis alone. The operative report should identify the vessel, its thoracic location, the reason for ligation, and the procedure performed. This major operation has a 90-day global period, including the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care. When multiple procedures occur in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures are subject to the standard 50% multiple-procedure reduction. Modifier 50 is inappropriate. An assistant at surgery may be paid; co-surgeons require supporting documentation, and team surgery is not permitted.
CMS billing rules for 37616
- Global period
- Major surgery with a 90-day global period: the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care are included.
- Multiple procedures
- Standard multiple procedure reduction: the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and others at 50% when performed in the same session.
- Bilateral procedures
- Bilateral adjustment does not apply; the descriptor or anatomy makes modifier 50 inappropriate.
- Assistant at surgery
- Assistant at surgery may be paid.
- Co-surgeons
- Co-surgeons paid only with supporting documentation.
- Team surgery
- Team surgery not permitted.
Where the value comes from
- Work RVU18.50 · 58%
- Practice expense (office) RVU9.00 · 28%
- Malpractice RVU4.56 · 14%
117
Medicare services in 2024 · #4758 by national volume
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.
37616 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Alabama, from the same CMS release.
No office rate
Use 37617 for a major artery in the abdomen; this code identifies the chest location.
No office rate
Use 37618 when the major artery is in an extremity. The code here is for a major thoracic artery.
No office rate
37619 concerns ligation of the inferior vena cava, a vein. This code is for a major artery in the chest.
Compare 37616 by payment locality
Find the payment area for your service address, then open its rate page for calculation inputs, release history and the percentage-of-Medicare tool. A city may cross payment-area boundaries; the ZIP lookup above helps resolve the location.
1 of 1 payment localities
Alabama →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$967.16
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How this local rate is calculated
Each RVU component is multiplied by its own geographic practice cost index (GPCI). The three adjusted components are added, then multiplied by the conversion factor. These are the inputs used for 37616 in Alabama.
PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv
4,679
- Code
- 37616
- Physician work
- 18.50
- Practice expense
- 9.00
- Malpractice
- 4.56
GPCI2026.csv
4
- Locality
- Alabama
- Physician work
- 1.000
- Practice expense
- 0.875
- Malpractice
- 0.566
| Component | RVU | Locality factor | Adjusted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physician work | 18.50 | × 1.000 | 18.5000 |
| Practice expense | 9.00 | × 0.875 | 7.8750 |
| Malpractice | 4.56 | × 0.566 | 2.5810 |
| Total RVUs | 28.9560 | ||
| Conversion factor | × 33.4009 | ||
Facility rate, Alabama$967.16
Explore RVUs, geographic factors and the full formula
Facility
| Component | RVU | Local GPCI |
|---|---|---|
| Work | 18.5 | 1 |
| Practice expense | 9 | 0.875 |
| Malpractice | 4.56 | 0.566 |
(18.5 × 1 + 9 × 0.875 + 4.56 × 0.566) × $33.4009 = $967.16
The office and facility calculations use their respective practice-expense RVUs. The facility amount here is the physician fee, not a separate hospital or facility bill.
37616 billing questions
How do I distinguish this code from 37615?
Choose based on the location of the major artery being ligated. This code is for an artery in the chest; 37615 is for a major artery in the neck.
Should modifier 50 be reported for ligation on both sides?
No. The CMS bilateral adjustment is inappropriate for this descriptor and anatomy; do not report modifier 50.
How is this code affected when other procedures are performed in the same session?
The highest-valued procedure is paid in full, and other procedures are subject to the standard 50% multiple-procedure reduction.
Can an assistant or co-surgeon be reported?
An assistant at surgery may be paid. Co-surgeons are paid only when supporting documentation is provided; team surgery is not permitted.
What postoperative care is included?
The 90-day global period includes the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care.
Where these rates come from
FeeBase calculates base physician payments from CMS work, practice-expense, and malpractice RVUs, adjusted by each locality’s geographic indices and the applicable conversion factor. Unavailable or separately priced services are labeled rather than assigned a made-up amount.
Source: RVU26D. Effective 2026-10-01 through the day before 2027-01-01.
4,67637609,,Ligation/bx temporal artery,A,,2.97,5.83,,2.01,,0.65,9.45,5.63,0,010,0.10,0.80,0.10,2,1,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
4,6773760F,,Pt w/dysphag/wt loss/nutr,I,,0.00,0.00,,0.00,,0.00,0.00,0.00,9,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,9,9,9,9,9,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
4,67837615,,Ligation major artery neck,A,,7.61,4.81,NA,4.81,,1.43,13.85,13.85,0,090,0.09,0.84,0.07,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
4,67937616,,Ligation major artery chest,A,,18.50,9.00,NA,9.00,,4.56,32.06,32.06,0,090,0.09,0.84,0.07,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
4,68037617,,Ligation major artery abd,A,,23.20,7.37,NA,7.37,,5.49,36.06,36.06,0,090,0.09,0.84,0.07,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
4,68137618,,Ligation major artery xtr,A,,5.88,3.76,NA,3.76,,1.42,11.06,11.06,0,090,0.09,0.84,0.07,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
4,68237619,,Ligation of inf vena cava,A,,29.25,10.30,NA,10.30,,7.84,47.39,47.39,0,090,0.09,0.84,0.07,2,0,2,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1ADDENDUM E. FINAL CY 2026 GEOGRAPHIC PRACTICE COST INDICES (GPCIs) BY STATE AND MEDICARE LOCALITY,,,,,,
2,,,,,,
3Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC),State,Locality Number,Locality Name,2026 PW GPCI (with 1.0 Floor)***,2026 PE GPCI,2026 MP GPCI
410112,AL,00,ALABAMA,1.000,0.875,0.566
502102,AK,01,ALASKA*,1.500,1.065,0.551
603102,AZ,00,ARIZONA,1.000,0.969,0.856
707102,AR,13,ARKANSAS,1.000,0.859,0.515