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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01

33997 VAD removal Medicare reimbursement rates in Florida

Removal of a percutaneously placed right-heart ventricular assist device, typically after temporary mechanical support for acute right ventricular failure is no longer needed. Compare 33997 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 33997 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

$150.02–$174.63

3 of 3 localities have a supported rate.

Lowest: Rest Of Florida

Highest: Miami

A spread of $24.61 per service.

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 33997 in your payment locality →

Where 33997 pays more and less in Florida

Cardiovascular surgery

About 33997: Percutaneous right-heart VAD removal

Removal of a percutaneously placed right-heart ventricular assist device, typically after temporary mechanical support for acute right ventricular failure is no longer needed.

This service removes a temporary ventricular assist device that provides percutaneous support to the right side of the heart, generally through venous access. It is typically performed by a cardiac surgeon or interventional cardiologist in a hospital setting, such as a cardiac catheterization laboratory or intensive care unit, when the patient has recovered enough to stop mechanical support or the device must be removed for another clinical reason.

Report the removal rather than device insertion or repositioning, and document the device, its percutaneous right-heart configuration, the removal, and the reason support is ending. The CMS global period is 0 days, so same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included. When multiple procedures occur 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 single right-heart device service. Assistant-at-surgery payment may be made; co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.

CMS billing rules for 33997

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 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 RVU2.93 · 70%
  • Practice expense (office) RVU0.58 · 14%
  • Malpractice RVU0.67 · 16%

127

Medicare services in 2024 · #4687 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.

33997 compared with similar codes

Office rates for Florida, from the same CMS release.

33992

VAD removal

Percutaneous left-heart device

No office rate

Choose 33997 for percutaneous right-heart VAD removal; 33992 is for percutaneous left-heart VAD removal.

33993

VAD repositioning

Percutaneous right or left heart

No office rate

33993 represents repositioning a percutaneous right- or left-heart VAD. Report 33997 when the right-heart device is removed.

33995

VAD insertion

Percutaneous, right heart

No office rate

33995 is for placing percutaneous right-heart VAD support; 33997 is for taking that type of device out.

33980

VAD removal

Implantable, single ventricle

No office rate

33980 concerns removal of an intracorporeal VAD. Use 33997 for removal of a percutaneous right-heart device.

Compare 33997 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

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

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33997 billing questions

How is this different from 33992?

33997 is for removal of a percutaneous right-heart VAD. Code 33992 is the corresponding removal code for a percutaneous left-heart VAD.

Should removal be reported with repositioning?

Use 33997 when the device is removed. Code 33993 describes repositioning a percutaneous right- or left-heart VAD, not removal.

What documentation supports 33997?

Document the percutaneous right-heart device, its removal, and the clinical reason it was taken out. The record should distinguish removal from repositioning or removal of a different VAD configuration.

Can an assistant surgeon be reported?

CMS permits assistant-at-surgery payment for this code. Co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.

How does the 0-day global period affect same-day care?

Same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included in the procedure's 0-day global period.

Is modifier 50 appropriate?

No. The service concerns a single right-heart device, so the descriptor and anatomy make modifier 50 inappropriate.

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 33997PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv, line 4,179 (RVU26D)