$515.80–$574.88
21501 covers deep drainage in neck or thoracic soft tissues. 21510 is distinguished by opening bone cortex during deep thoracic drainage.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
21510 Thoracic I&D Medicare reimbursement rates in Florida
Reports deep drainage of a thoracic infection or collection when the surgeon opens bone cortex to reach or treat the involved area. Compare 21510 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Florida.
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 21510 in Florida?
Florida has 3 payment localities in this comparison. Use the service location to choose the applicable amount. These are the supported base rates for the 3 payment areas shown below, using the same CMS release.
Office / nonfacility
No supported rate
Facility setting
$479.05–$548.68
3 of 3 localities have a 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 21510 pays more and less in Florida
Thoracic surgery
About 21510: Deep thoracic cortical incision and drainage
Reports deep drainage of a thoracic infection or collection when the surgeon opens bone cortex to reach or treat the involved area.
This service involves surgically reaching a deep collection in the thorax and opening the cortex of bone as part of the drainage. It is generally performed by a surgeon in an operating room or other facility setting when a superficial approach is inadequate. The procedure is distinct from draining a deep soft-tissue collection without cortical opening and from sampling a lesion for diagnosis alone.
Report the code when the operative record supports deep thoracic drainage and documents that bone cortex was opened. The CMS global period is 90 days, including the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care. When multiple procedures are performed in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures are subject to the standard multiple-procedure reduction. Modifier 50 is inappropriate for this service. Assistant-at-surgery payment requires documentation of medical necessity; co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.
CMS billing rules for 21510
- 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 is paid only with documentation of medical necessity.
- Co-surgeons
- Co-surgeons not permitted.
- Team surgery
- Team surgery not permitted.
Where the value comes from
- Work RVU6.05 · 44%
- Practice expense (office) RVU6.30 · 45%
- Malpractice RVU1.51 · 11%
22
Medicare services in 2024 · #5854 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.
21510 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Florida, from the same CMS release.
No office rate
21502 is the related drainage code for a case involving rib osteomyelitis. Choose based on the documented anatomy, condition, and procedure rather than treating the codes as interchangeable.
$268.43–$295.12
21550 is for biopsy of a neck or chest lesion to obtain diagnostic tissue. It does not describe drainage with cortical bone opening.
Compare 21510 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.
3 of 3 payment localities
Fort Lauderdale →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$506.42
Miami →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$548.68
Rest Of Florida →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$479.05
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21510 billing questions
How does this differ from 21501?
21501 describes deep drainage of neck or thoracic soft tissues. Use 21510 when the thoracic procedure also involves opening bone cortex.
When should 21502 be considered instead?
21502 describes deep drainage associated with rib osteomyelitis. Distinguish it from 21510 by the documented procedure and the rib osteomyelitis context.
What documentation supports reporting 21510?
The operative report should establish the thoracic site, the deep collection being drained, and the opening of bone cortex as part of the procedure.
Can modifier 50 be appended?
No. CMS identifies bilateral adjustment as inappropriate for this code.
Can an assistant or another surgeon be reported?
Assistant-at-surgery payment requires documentation of medical necessity. Co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted under the CMS rules for this code.
What is included in the global period?
The 90-day global period includes the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care.
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.
1,99721499,,Unlisted muscskel px head,C,,0.00,0.00,,0.00,,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,YYY,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,0,0,1,1,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,99821501,,I&d dp absc/hmtma sft ts nck,A,,3.88,10.79,,5.10,,0.83,15.50,9.81,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,2,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,99921502,,I&d dp abs/hmtm nck rib ostc,A,,7.36,6.11,NA,6.11,,1.85,15.32,15.32,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,2,0,2,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
2,00021510,,Inc deep opng b1 crtx thorax,A,,6.05,6.30,NA,6.30,,1.51,13.86,13.86,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,2,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
2,00121550,,Biopsy of neck/chest,A,,2.06,5.78,,1.94,,0.30,8.14,4.30,0,010,0.10,0.80,0.10,2,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
2,00221552,,Exc neck les sc 3 cm/>,A,,6.33,5.02,NA,5.02,,1.50,12.85,12.85,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,2,0,2,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
2,00321554,,Exc neck tum deep 5 cm/>,A,,10.85,7.14,NA,7.14,,2.39,20.38,20.38,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,2,0,2,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00