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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01

15736 Flap reconstruction Medicare reimbursement rates in Arkansas

Reports transfer of a muscle, muscle-and-skin, or fascia-and-skin flap to cover an upper-extremity defect while maintaining its blood supply. Compare 15736 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Arkansas.

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 15736 in Arkansas?

Arkansas 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

$994.76

1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.

Payment area: Arkansas

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.

Find 15736 in your payment locality →

Reconstructive surgery

About 15736: Upper-extremity muscle or skin flap

Reports transfer of a muscle, muscle-and-skin, or fascia-and-skin flap to cover an upper-extremity defect while maintaining its blood supply.

Use 15736 for moving a muscle, muscle-and-skin, or fascia-and-skin flap to cover a defect in the upper extremity while maintaining its vascular connection. Plastic or reconstructive, hand, and orthopedic surgeons may perform this reconstruction after trauma, tumor removal, or another operation leaves exposed structures or inadequate soft-tissue coverage. It is a flap transfer, not a free flap requiring microvascular reconnection.

Choose the code by recipient anatomy and the flap technique documented in the operative report. Record the defect, flap composition and source, retained blood supply, and transfer performed. The 90-day global period includes the day-before preoperative visit and related postoperative care through day 90. When multiple procedures occur in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and others at 50%. Modifier 50 is inappropriate. Medicare does not pay an assistant at surgery; co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation, and team surgery is not permitted.

CMS billing rules for 15736

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
Statutory restriction: assistant at surgery is not paid.
Co-surgeons
Co-surgeons paid only with supporting documentation.
Team surgery
Team surgery not permitted.

Where the value comes from

  • Work RVU16.61 · 50%
  • Practice expense (office) RVU13.35 · 40%
  • Malpractice RVU3.31 · 10%

1.7K

Medicare services in 2024 · #2570 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.

15736 compared with similar codes

Office rates for Arkansas, from the same CMS release.

15734

Trunk flap

Muscle, skin, or fascia flap

No office rate

15734 is the regional flap code for the trunk; 15736 is for upper-extremity reconstruction.

15738

Lower-extremity flap

Muscle, myocutaneous, or fasciocutaneous

No office rate

15738 applies to lower-extremity flap reconstruction. Use 15736 when the recipient defect is in the upper extremity.

15756

Free tissue flap

Muscle or myocutaneous

No office rate

15756 describes a free muscle or myocutaneous flap with microvascular transfer. 15736 describes a flap that retains its vascular connection.

15740

Island flap

Subcutaneous vascular pedicle

$934.55

15740 identifies an island pedicle flap. Select 15736 when the operative technique and flap composition match the upper-extremity muscle, myocutaneous, or fasciocutaneous flap service.

Compare 15736 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

Office and facility base rates · shared scale starting at $0

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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 15736 in Arkansas.

PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv

1,533

Code
15736
Physician work
16.61
Practice expense
13.35
Malpractice
3.31

GPCI2026.csv

7

Locality
Arkansas
Physician work
1.000
Practice expense
0.859
Malpractice
0.515
Facility calculation for 15736 in Arkansas
ComponentRVULocality factorAdjusted
Physician work16.61× 1.00016.6100
Practice expense13.35× 0.85911.4676
Malpractice3.31× 0.5151.7046
Total RVUs29.7823
Conversion factor× 33.4009

Facility rate, Arkansas$994.76

Values as parsed from CMS release RVU26D, effective 2026-10-01. The amount is rounded to the nearest cent only at the end.
Explore RVUs, geographic factors and the full formula

Facility

Facility calculation inputs
ComponentRVULocal GPCI
Work16.611
Practice expense13.350.859
Malpractice3.310.515

(16.61 × 1 + 13.35 × 0.859 + 3.31 × 0.515) × $33.4009 = $994.76

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.

15736 billing questions

How is 15736 distinguished from a free flap code?

15736 describes an upper-extremity flap that retains its vascular connection. A free muscle or myocutaneous flap with microvascular transfer is reported with 15756.

Which nearby code applies to a trunk or leg flap?

Use 15734 for the corresponding muscle, myocutaneous, or fasciocutaneous flap work on the trunk, and 15738 for the lower extremity. The recipient site determines which regional code fits.

Should modifier 50 be appended for work on both sides?

No. CMS identifies bilateral adjustment as inappropriate for this code; modifier 50 should not be used.

What operative details support reporting 15736?

Document the upper-extremity defect, the flap’s tissue composition and source, its maintained blood supply, and the transfer used to provide coverage.

How do assistant and co-surgeon services affect payment?

Medicare does not pay an assistant-at-surgery service for this code. Co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation, and team surgery is not permitted.

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.

RVUs for 15736PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv, line 1,533 (RVU26D)
Geographic factors for ArkansasGPCI2026.csv, line 7 (RVU26D)
Open CMS sourceHow this rate is calculatedBuild a fee sheet