$110.82
Choose 20611 when ultrasound guidance is used and images are permanently recorded with a written report. A procedure performed without ultrasound, or without the required ultrasound documentation, is reported with 20610.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
20610 Joint injection Medicare reimbursement rates in Connecticut
Needle aspiration of fluid from, or injection of medication into, a large joint or bursa such as the knee, shoulder, or hip, performed without ultrasound guidance. Compare 20610 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Connecticut.
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 20610 in Connecticut?
Connecticut 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
$73.22
1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.
Payment area: Connecticut
One mapped payment locality.
Facility setting
$41.92
1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.
Payment area: Connecticut
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.
Musculoskeletal procedure
About 20610: Major joint or bursa aspiration or injection without ultrasound
Needle aspiration of fluid from, or injection of medication into, a large joint or bursa such as the knee, shoulder, or hip, performed without ultrasound guidance.
Code 20610 covers needle aspiration, injection, or both in a major joint or bursa, including the knee, glenohumeral joint, hip, subacromial bursa, and trochanteric bursa. A clinician may drain a knee effusion for cell count or crystal testing or inject medication into a painful joint or bursa. Orthopedists, rheumatologists, sports medicine and primary care clinicians, and advanced practice providers commonly perform it in offices. They may use palpable landmarks or separately reportable non-ultrasound imaging guidance.
Report one unit for each distinct major joint or bursa treated in a session; aspiration followed by injection of the same site remains one unit. Document the target and side, procedure performed, aspirated fluid when applicable, and injected drug and dose. Report separately payable, provider-supplied drugs with the appropriate HCPCS code and administered units. CMS assigns a 0-day global period that includes same-day preoperative and postoperative care; a significant, separately identifiable E/M requires modifier 25 on the E/M code. For multiple procedures in one session, CMS pays the highest-valued in full and others at 50%; bilateral procedures reported with modifier 50 pay at 150%. CMS does not pay an assistant at surgery or permit co-surgeons or team surgery for this code.
CMS billing rules for 20610
- Global period
- Minor procedure with a 0-day global period: same-day preoperative and postoperative care is 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 procedure with modifier 50 is paid at 150%.
- Assistant at surgery
- Statutory restriction: assistant at surgery is not paid.
- Co-surgeons
- Co-surgeons not permitted.
- Team surgery
- Team surgery not permitted.
Where the value comes from
- Work RVU0.77 · 37%
- Practice expense (office) RVU1.16 · 56%
- Malpractice RVU0.13 · 6%
4.8M
Medicare services in 2024 · #45 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.
20610 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Connecticut, from the same CMS release.
$60.61
Site size decides the code. Knee, shoulder, hip, and their major bursae are 20610; wrist, elbow, ankle, and olecranon bursa are 20605.
$72.13
20612 is for aspirating or injecting a ganglion cyst, typically at the wrist or foot, rather than entering a joint space or bursa.
$54.85
20552 describes trigger point injections into one or two muscles; 20610 requires treatment of a major joint or bursa.
Compare 20610 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
Connecticut →
Office / nonfacility
$73.22
Facility
$41.92
Need rates for a whole code list?
Fee-sheet and API access are in early access. Tell us which codes and locations your team needs.
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 20610 in Connecticut.
PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv
1,771
- Code
- 20610
- Physician work
- 0.77
- Practice expense
- 1.16
- Malpractice
- 0.13
GPCI2026.csv
38
- Locality
- Connecticut
- Physician work
- 1.020
- Practice expense
- 1.077
- Malpractice
- 1.210
| Component | RVU | Locality factor | Adjusted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physician work | 0.77 | × 1.020 | 0.7854 |
| Practice expense | 1.16 | × 1.077 | 1.2493 |
| Malpractice | 0.13 | × 1.210 | 0.1573 |
| Total RVUs | 2.1920 | ||
| Conversion factor | × 33.4009 | ||
Office / nonfacility rate, Connecticut$73.22
Explore RVUs, geographic factors and the full formula
Office / nonfacility
| Component | RVU | Local GPCI |
|---|---|---|
| Work | 0.77 | 1.02 |
| Practice expense | 1.16 | 1.077 |
| Malpractice | 0.13 | 1.21 |
(0.77 × 1.02 + 1.16 × 1.077 + 0.13 × 1.21) × $33.4009 = $73.22
Facility
| Component | RVU | Local GPCI |
|---|---|---|
| Work | 0.77 | 1.02 |
| Practice expense | 0.29 | 1.077 |
| Malpractice | 0.13 | 1.21 |
(0.77 × 1.02 + 0.29 × 1.077 + 0.13 × 1.21) × $33.4009 = $41.92
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.
20610 billing questions
Which joints qualify for 20610 rather than 20605 or 20600?
20610 is for major joints and bursae such as the knee, shoulder, hip, and subacromial bursa. Intermediate sites like the wrist, elbow, ankle, and olecranon bursa go to 20605, and small joints of the fingers and toes go to 20600.
If the knee is aspirated and then injected in the same session, is that two units?
No. Aspiration and injection of the same joint in one session are one unit of 20610, even if separate needle passes are needed.
How are bilateral knee injections reported to Medicare?
Report 20610 with modifier 50 on one line with one unit; CMS pays bilateral procedures at 150%. For a knee and a shoulder treated in the same session, report both sites; the multiple-procedure reduction applies, and a distinct-site modifier is used only when needed to identify separately reportable services.
Can an office visit be billed on the same day?
Yes, when the provider performs a significant, separately identifiable evaluation beyond the usual pre-injection assessment; append modifier 25 to the E/M code. The decision to inject and the brief assessment of the treated joint are included in the 0-day global.
What if imaging guidance is used?
If ultrasound guidance includes permanently recorded images and a written report, report 20611 instead of 20610; do not add 76942. For fluoroscopic needle guidance, report 20610 with the appropriate guidance code, such as 77002.
Is the injected drug included?
An eligible, provider-supplied corticosteroid or hyaluronan product may be reported separately with its HCPCS drug code and units based on the administered dose. Local anesthetic used for the procedure is not separately billed.
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.
1,76820605,,Drain/inj joint/bursa w/o us,A,,0.66,0.97,,0.22,,0.08,1.71,0.96,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,1,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,76920606,,Drain/inj joint/bursa w/us,A,,0.98,1.72,,0.24,,0.12,2.82,1.34,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,1,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,7702060F,,Pt intrvwd on/before dx mdd,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
1,77120610,,Drain/inj joint/bursa w/o us,A,,0.77,1.16,,0.29,,0.13,2.06,1.19,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,1,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,77220611,,Drain/inj joint/bursa w/us,A,,1.07,1.91,,0.29,,0.14,3.12,1.50,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,1,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,77320612,,Aspirate/inj ganglion cyst,A,,0.68,1.26,,0.33,,0.09,2.03,1.10,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,77420615,,Treatment of bone cyst,A,,2.27,4.95,,1.80,,0.25,7.47,4.32,0,010,0.10,0.80,0.10,2,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3501112,CA,70,YUBA CITY,1.017,1.096,0.536
3601112,CA,75,REST OF CALIFORNIA,1.017,1.096,0.536
3704112,CO,01,COLORADO,1.012,1.064,0.781
3813102,CT,00,CONNECTICUT,1.020,1.077,1.210
3912202,DC,01,DC + MD/VA SUBURBS,1.054,1.178,1.113
4012102,DE,01,DELAWARE,1.005,0.988,0.899
4109102,FL,03,FORT LAUDERDALE,1.000,1.013,1.808