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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01

35800 Neck exploration Medicare reimbursement rates in Florida

Exploration of the neck, often to investigate a postoperative hematoma or bleeding, is reported when the procedure does not proceed to surgical repair. Compare 35800 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 35800 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

$692.19–$788.73

3 of 3 localities have a supported rate.

Lowest: Rest Of Florida

Highest: Miami

A spread of $96.54 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 35800 in your payment locality →

Where 35800 pays more and less in Florida

Surgical exploration

About 35800: Neck exploration without repair

Exploration of the neck, often to investigate a postoperative hematoma or bleeding, is reported when the procedure does not proceed to surgical repair.

This service involves opening or reopening a neck incision to inspect the operative field, commonly when a patient develops a suspected hematoma or bleeding after neck surgery such as carotid endarterectomy. The surgeon examines the area and may evacuate clot while assessing for a source. It is typically performed in an operating room when the clinical concern warrants surgical exploration.

Report this code when the neck is explored and the procedure is not followed by surgical repair. Documentation should identify the reason for exploration, the neck site, operative findings, and whether a repair was performed. The code has a 90-day global period, which includes the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care. For multiple procedures in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and others at 50%. Modifier 50 is inappropriate. Assistant-at-surgery payment may be available; co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation, and team surgery is not permitted.

CMS billing rules for 35800

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 paid only with supporting documentation.
Team surgery
Team surgery not permitted.

Where the value comes from

  • Work RVU11.70 · 59%
  • Practice expense (office) RVU5.76 · 29%
  • Malpractice RVU2.34 · 12%

1.3K

Medicare services in 2024 · #2791 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.

35800 compared with similar codes

Office rates for Florida, from the same CMS release.

35820

Chest exploration

Postoperative complication

No office rate

Use 35800 for exploration of the neck; use 35820 when the explored site is the chest.

35840

Abdominal exploration

Postoperative complication evaluation

No office rate

Use 35800 for neck exploration; 35840 identifies exploration of the abdomen.

35201

Vessel repair

Direct repair, neck

No office rate

35800 describes neck exploration without surgical repair. 35201 is for direct repair of a blood vessel in the neck.

Compare 35800 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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35800 billing questions

When is neck exploration reported instead of a neck vessel repair?

Use this code when the neck is explored but the procedure does not proceed to surgical repair. If a vessel is surgically repaired, report the repair service that matches the vessel and operative circumstances.

Can this code be reported for exploration after carotid endarterectomy?

It may describe a return to the operating room to investigate a suspected neck hematoma or bleeding after carotid endarterectomy, provided the procedure does not proceed to surgical repair.

Can the exploration be reported with another procedure in the same session?

When multiple procedures are performed in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and the others at 50%. The operative record should distinguish the neck exploration from any separately reported procedure.

Should modifier 50 be used when both sides of the neck are explored?

No. The CMS bilateral adjustment does not apply to this code, and modifier 50 is inappropriate.

What documentation supports assistant or co-surgeon reporting?

Assistant-at-surgery payment may be available. Co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation, while team surgery is not permitted.

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 35800PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv, line 4,415 (RVU26D)