88184 covers technical work for the first marker on a specimen. Report 88185 in units for each additional marker on that specimen.
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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
88185 Flow cytometry add-on Medicare reimbursement rates in Georgia
Report the laboratory's technical work for each flow cytometry marker beyond the first on a specimen, together with first-marker code 88184. Compare 88185 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Georgia.
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 88185 in Georgia?
Georgia has 2 payment localities in this comparison. Use the service location to choose the applicable amount. These are the supported base rates for the 2 payment areas shown below, using the same CMS release.
Office / nonfacility
$20.56–$23.42
2 of 2 localities have a supported rate.
Facility setting
No 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.
Flow cytometry
About 88185: Flow cytometry technical work, each additional marker
Report the laboratory's technical work for each flow cytometry marker beyond the first on a specimen, together with first-marker code 88184.
This code covers the laboratory work for each additional cell surface, cytoplasmic, or nuclear marker after the first in a flow cytometry study. That work includes preparing and staining cells, acquiring instrument data, and processing the results for review. A common use is immunophenotyping peripheral blood, bone marrow aspirate, lymph node, or body fluid specimens when a hematolymphoid disorder is suspected or monitored. Hospital and independent laboratories perform this technical work; a pathologist or hematopathologist may separately interpret the study.
Report one unit of 88185 for each marker beyond the first on a specimen, with 88184 for its first marker. Record the markers tested for each specimen to support the technical units. CMS treats 88185 as an add-on billed with its primary procedure and paid within that procedure's global period. It is technical-component-only, so do not append modifier 26 or TC. When separately reported, interpretation uses 88187, 88188, or 88189 according to the number of markers interpreted; the report should support that tier.
CMS billing rules for 88185
- Global period
- Add-on code: billed only together with a primary procedure and paid within that procedure's global period.
- Professional and technical components
- Technical-component-only code: a separate code covers interpretation.
Where the value comes from
- Work RVU0.00 · 0%
- Practice expense (office) RVU0.69 · 100%
- Malpractice RVU0.00 · 0%
2.1M
Medicare services in 2024 · #79 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.
88185 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Georgia, from the same CMS release.
88187 covers interpretation when 2 to 8 markers are interpreted. 88185 covers laboratory technical work and is counted per additional marker tested.
88188 covers interpretation when 9 to 15 markers are interpreted. Even in that tier, 88185 counts the technical work for each marker tested beyond the first.
Compare 88185 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.
2 of 2 payment localities
Atlanta →
Office / nonfacility
$23.42
Facility
Unavailable
Rest Of Georgia →
Office / nonfacility
$20.56
Facility
Unavailable
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88185 billing questions
How many units of 88185 are reported for a 10-marker panel?
For one specimen, report 88184 once and nine units of 88185. If all 10 markers are interpreted, the interpretation falls in the 9-to-15-marker tier, 88188.
Can 88185 be reported without 88184?
No. Report this add-on with 88184, the primary technical code for the first marker on the specimen.
Does 88185 take modifier 26 or TC?
No. 88185 is already a technical-component-only code. A separately reported interpretation uses the applicable code from 88187 through 88189.
How are markers counted when two specimens are tested?
Count markers separately for each specimen. Report 88184 for the first marker on each specimen and 88185 units for that specimen's additional markers.
Who bills 88185 versus the interpretation code?
The laboratory performing the technical work bills 88184 and 88185. The pathologist or hematopathologist who interprets the data and issues a report bills the applicable interpretation code.
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.
