97010
No office rateHot or cold packs therapy
Choose 97018 when warmed paraffin wax is applied. Choose 97010 when the treatment uses hot or cold packs.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
97018 Paraffin therapy Medicare reimbursement rates in Alabama
Paraffin bath therapy applies therapeutic heat, commonly to a hand or wrist, as a physical or occupational therapy modality. Compare 97018 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 97018 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
$5.41
1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.
Payment area: Alabama
One mapped payment locality.
Facility setting
No supported rate
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.
Physical therapy
About 97018: Paraffin bath heat therapy
Paraffin bath therapy applies therapeutic heat, commonly to a hand or wrist, as a physical or occupational therapy modality.
Paraffin bath therapy uses warmed paraffin wax to deliver superficial heat to a body area. Physical and occupational therapists commonly use it for a hand or wrist affected by stiffness or pain, often before therapeutic movement or hand-function activities. The patient immerses the area in the wax or has wax applied, and the therapist manages the treatment and monitors the area.
Report 97018 for the paraffin modality itself, not for exercise or other skilled treatment performed during the visit. Documentation should identify the treated area, the clinical reason for heat, and the treatment provided. This is a therapy service, so a professional-component modifier does not apply. When multiple therapy units are reported for the same patient on the same day, CMS reduces practice expense for the second and later units.
CMS billing rules for 97018
- Professional and technical components
- Therapy service: the professional component modifier does not apply.
- Multiple procedures
- Therapy multiple procedure payment reduction: practice expense is reduced for the second and later therapy units on the same day.
Where the value comes from
- Work RVU0.06 · 33%
- Practice expense (office) RVU0.11 · 61%
- Malpractice RVU0.01 · 6%
160.8K
Medicare services in 2024 · #432 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.
97018 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Alabama, from the same CMS release.
Compare 97018 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
$5.41
Facility
Unavailable
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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 97018 in Alabama.
PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv
12,847
- Code
- 97018
- Physician work
- 0.06
- Practice expense
- 0.11
- Malpractice
- 0.01
GPCI2026.csv
4
- Locality
- Alabama
- Physician work
- 1.000
- Practice expense
- 0.875
- Malpractice
- 0.566
| Component | RVU | Locality factor | Adjusted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physician work | 0.06 | × 1.000 | 0.0600 |
| Practice expense | 0.11 | × 0.875 | 0.0963 |
| Malpractice | 0.01 | × 0.566 | 0.0057 |
| Total RVUs | 0.1619 | ||
| Conversion factor | × 33.4009 | ||
Office / nonfacility rate, Alabama$5.41
Explore RVUs, geographic factors and the full formula
Office / nonfacility
| Component | RVU | Local GPCI |
|---|---|---|
| Work | 0.06 | 1 |
| Practice expense | 0.11 | 0.875 |
| Malpractice | 0.01 | 0.566 |
(0.06 × 1 + 0.11 × 0.875 + 0.01 × 0.566) × $33.4009 = $5.41
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.
97018 billing questions
When should 97018 be chosen over hot or cold packs?
Use 97018 when paraffin wax is the heat-delivery method. Hot or cold packs are reported with 97010 when packs, rather than a paraffin bath, provide the modality.
Is 97018 reported per 15 minutes?
The code represents paraffin bath therapy and is not a 15-minute timed modality code. Do not calculate units from the timed structure used by codes such as 97034.
Can therapeutic exercise be reported in the same visit?
Yes, when the therapist separately provides and documents skilled therapeutic exercise. The paraffin modality alone does not describe that exercise.
Should modifier 26 be appended?
No. CMS identifies 97018 as a therapy service for which the professional-component modifier does not apply.
What documentation supports reporting 97018?
Record the treated body area, the condition or functional problem prompting heat, and that paraffin therapy was administered. Document separately any distinct skilled treatment performed during the encounter.
How does the therapy multiple procedure reduction affect 97018?
When multiple therapy units are reported on the same day, CMS reduces practice expense for the second and later units. The reduction concerns practice expense, not a change in the service documented.
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.
12,84497012,,Mechanical traction therapy,A,,0.24,0.18,,0.18,NA,0.01,0.43,0.43,7,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,5,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
12,84597014,,Electric stimulation therapy,I,+,0.18,0.19,,0.19,NA,0.01,0.38,0.38,9,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,9,9,9,9,9,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
12,84697016,,Vasopneumatic device therapy,A,,0.18,0.17,,0.17,NA,0.01,0.36,0.36,7,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,5,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
12,84797018,,Paraffin bath therapy,A,,0.06,0.11,,0.11,NA,0.01,0.18,0.18,7,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,5,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
12,84897022,,Whirlpool therapy,A,,0.17,0.29,,0.29,NA,0.01,0.47,0.47,7,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,5,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
12,84997024,,Diathermy eg microwave,A,,0.06,0.15,,0.15,NA,0.01,0.22,0.22,7,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,5,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
12,85097026,,Infrared therapy,R,,0.06,0.13,,0.13,NA,0.01,0.20,0.20,7,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,5,0,0,0,0,9,,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