$10.80–$14.15
Choose 97008 for preparing and placing the cooling system; 97009 describes cooling provided after chemotherapy.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
97009 Scalp cooling Medicare reimbursement rates in California
Reports mechanical scalp cooling continued after chemotherapy as part of an oncology treatment encounter, when furnished with its required primary procedure. Compare 97009 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in California.
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 97009 in California?
California has 29 payment localities in this comparison. Use the service location to choose the applicable amount. These are the supported base rates for the 29 payment areas shown below, using the same CMS release.
Office / nonfacility
$6.96–$9.15
29 of 29 localities have a supported rate.
Lowest: Bakersfield
Highest: San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (Santa Clara Cnty)
A spread of $2.19 per service.
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.
Where 97009 pays more and less in California
29 payment localities
$6.96 to $9.15
Scalp cooling
About 97009: Mechanical scalp cooling after chemotherapy
Reports mechanical scalp cooling continued after chemotherapy as part of an oncology treatment encounter, when furnished with its required primary procedure.
This code represents mechanical scalp cooling provided after chemotherapy, as part of a treatment approach intended to reduce chemotherapy-associated hair loss. Oncology infusion staff typically manage the cooling system during an infusion-center visit, continuing the cooling service after the chemotherapy administration has ended. It is distinct from measuring and fitting a cooling system or preparing and placing it before treatment.
Report 97009 only with a primary procedure; it is not a standalone service. Documentation should identify the chemotherapy encounter and show that mechanical scalp cooling continued after chemotherapy. CMS treats this as an add-on code, with payment handled within the primary procedure’s global period. The supplied CMS facts do not specify a time unit or a particular primary code, so the record and applicable code instructions should support the reported service and pairing.
CMS billing rules for 97009
- Global period
- Add-on code: billed only together with a primary procedure and paid within that procedure's global period.
Where the value comes from
- Work RVU0.00 · 0%
- Practice expense (office) RVU0.19 · 100%
- Malpractice RVU0.00 · 0%
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.
97009 compared with similar codes
Office rates for California, from the same CMS release.
$1,857.26–$2,443.42
97007 is for measuring and fitting the scalp-cooling system, rather than providing post-chemotherapy cooling.
97010
No office rateHot or cold packs therapy
97010 describes hot or cold pack therapy. It is not the code for mechanical scalp cooling after chemotherapy.
Compare 97009 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.
29 of 29 payment localities
| Payment locality | Office | Facility |
|---|---|---|
| Bakersfield | Office $6.96 | Facility Unavailable |
| Chico | Office $6.96 | Facility Unavailable |
| El Centro | Office $6.96 | Facility Unavailable |
| Fresno | Office $6.96 | Facility Unavailable |
| Hanford-Corcoran | Office $6.96 | Facility Unavailable |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (Los Angeles/Orange Cnty) | Office $7.51 | Facility Unavailable |
| Madera | Office $6.96 | Facility Unavailable |
| Merced | Office $6.96 | Facility Unavailable |
| Modesto | Office $6.96 | Facility Unavailable |
| Napa | Office $8.36 | Facility Unavailable |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura | Office $7.50 | Facility Unavailable |
| Redding | Office $6.96 | Facility Unavailable |
| Rest Of California | Office $6.96 | Facility Unavailable |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario | Office $6.96 | Facility Unavailable |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom | Office $7.38 | Facility Unavailable |
| Salinas | Office $7.36 | Facility Unavailable |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad | Office $7.59 | Facility Unavailable |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley (Marin Cnty) | Office $8.95 | Facility Unavailable |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley (San Francisco/San Mateo/Alameda/Contra Costa Cnty) | Office $8.95 | Facility Unavailable |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (San Benito Cnty) | Office $9.15 | Facility Unavailable |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (Santa Clara Cnty) | Office $9.15 | Facility Unavailable |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles | Office $7.23 | Facility Unavailable |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville | Office $7.71 | Facility Unavailable |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara | Office $7.40 | Facility Unavailable |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma | Office $7.79 | Facility Unavailable |
| Stockton | Office $6.96 | Facility Unavailable |
| Vallejo | Office $8.36 | Facility Unavailable |
| Visalia | Office $6.96 | Facility Unavailable |
| Yuba City | Office $6.96 | Facility Unavailable |
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97009 billing questions
How does 97009 differ from 97008?
97009 represents mechanical scalp cooling after chemotherapy. 97008 covers preparation and placement of the cooling system.
Can 97009 be reported by itself?
No. CMS identifies it as an add-on code that must be reported with a primary procedure.
What documentation supports 97009?
Document the chemotherapy encounter and that mechanical scalp cooling continued after chemotherapy. The record should support the primary procedure reported with the add-on.
Is 97009 reported with chemotherapy administration?
Scalp cooling may occur during an oncology infusion encounter, alongside the applicable chemotherapy administration service. Report 97009 only with its required primary procedure.
Does 97009 have a time-based unit?
The CMS facts provided do not specify a time unit. Do not infer units from the service’s duration; follow the applicable code instructions.
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.
12,83996999,,Unlisted spec derm svc/px,C,,0.00,0.00,,0.00,,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
12,84097007,,Mchnl sclp cool meas fitg,A,,0.00,50.72,,50.72,NA,0.03,50.75,50.75,0,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
12,84197008,,Mchnl sclp cool prep plmt,A,,0.00,0.29,,0.29,NA,0.01,0.30,0.30,0,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
12,84297009,,Mchnl sclp cool after chemo,A,,0.00,0.19,,0.19,NA,0.00,0.19,0.19,0,ZZZ,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
12,84397010,,Hot or cold packs therapy,B,+,0.06,0.13,,0.13,NA,0.01,0.20,0.20,9,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,9,9,9,9,9,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
12,84497012,,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