No office rate
Choose 32810 for a chest-wall opening left after drainage or another procedure; 32815 targets a bronchial fistula.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
32810 Chest closure Medicare reimbursement rates in Delaware
Surgical closure of a chest-wall opening left after open drainage, commonly for empyema, when the operative wound is ready for definitive closure. Compare 32810 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Delaware.
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 32810 in Delaware?
Delaware 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
$860.68
1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.
Payment area: Delaware
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.
Thoracic surgery
About 32810: Chest wall closure after open drainage
Surgical closure of a chest-wall opening left after open drainage, commonly for empyema, when the operative wound is ready for definitive closure.
A thoracic surgeon closes a chest-wall opening remaining after open drainage, such as drainage performed for empyema, or after another thoracic procedure that left an opening requiring closure. The service is generally performed in an operating room, often in a hospital facility, as a distinct operative closure rather than routine closure of an incision made during the current operation.
Report the code when the operative record supports closure of the chest-wall opening and identifies the prior drainage or other procedure that led to it. Documentation should describe the opening and the closure performed. Medicare classifies the service as major surgery with 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% reduction. Modifier 50 is inappropriate. Assistant-at-surgery payment may be made; co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.
CMS billing rules for 32810
- 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 not permitted.
- Team surgery
- Team surgery not permitted.
Where the value comes from
- Work RVU14.58 · 56%
- Practice expense (office) RVU7.92 · 30%
- Malpractice RVU3.66 · 14%
48
Medicare services in 2024 · #5375 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.
32810 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Delaware, from the same CMS release.
No office rate
32820 addresses reconstruction of an injured chest wall. This code is for closure following open drainage or another thoracic procedure.
32800
No office rateLung hernia repair
32800 repairs a lung hernia through the chest wall; this code closes an opening left after drainage or another procedure.
Compare 32810 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
Delaware →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$860.68
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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 32810 in Delaware.
PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv
3,785
- Code
- 32810
- Physician work
- 14.58
- Practice expense
- 7.92
- Malpractice
- 3.66
GPCI2026.csv
40
- Locality
- Delaware
- Physician work
- 1.005
- Practice expense
- 0.988
- Malpractice
- 0.899
| Component | RVU | Locality factor | Adjusted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physician work | 14.58 | × 1.005 | 14.6529 |
| Practice expense | 7.92 | × 0.988 | 7.8250 |
| Malpractice | 3.66 | × 0.899 | 3.2903 |
| Total RVUs | 25.7682 | ||
| Conversion factor | × 33.4009 | ||
Facility rate, Delaware$860.68
Explore RVUs, geographic factors and the full formula
Facility
| Component | RVU | Local GPCI |
|---|---|---|
| Work | 14.58 | 1.005 |
| Practice expense | 7.92 | 0.988 |
| Malpractice | 3.66 | 0.899 |
(14.58 × 1.005 + 7.92 × 0.988 + 3.66 × 0.899) × $33.4009 = $860.68
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.
32810 billing questions
When is this code used instead of closure of a bronchial fistula?
Use this code for closure of a chest-wall opening remaining after drainage or another thoracic procedure. Use 32815 when the operative target is a bronchial fistula.
Does this code cover the original drainage procedure?
It represents the later chest-wall closure, not the drainage itself. The operative documentation should establish the relationship between the opening and the prior drainage or other procedure.
Should modifier 50 be reported for bilateral closure?
No. CMS identifies bilateral adjustment as inappropriate for this code.
What postoperative care is included?
The 90-day global period includes the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care.
Can an assistant surgeon be reported?
Assistant-at-surgery payment may be made. Co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted under the listed CMS rules.
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.
3,7823279F,,Hgb lvl >= 13 g/dl,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
3,78332800,,Repair lung hernia,A,,15.32,8.35,NA,8.35,,3.79,27.46,27.46,0,090,0.10,0.76,0.14,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,7843280F,,Hgb lvl 11-12.9 g/dl,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
3,78532810,,Close chest after drainage,A,,14.58,7.92,NA,7.92,,3.66,26.16,26.16,0,090,0.10,0.76,0.14,2,0,2,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,78632815,,Close bronchial fistula,A,,48.78,17.61,NA,17.61,,12.32,78.71,78.71,0,090,0.10,0.76,0.14,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,7873281F,,Hgb lvl <11 g/dl,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
3,78832820,,Reconstruct injured chest,A,,21.95,11.90,NA,11.90,,5.49,39.34,39.34,0,090,0.10,0.76,0.14,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
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
4209102,FL,04,MIAMI,1.000,1.041,2.529
4309102,FL,99,REST OF FLORIDA,1.000,0.956,1.503