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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01

26992 Bone lesion drainage Medicare reimbursement rates in Guam

Reports operative drainage of a lesion within bone when the surgeon opens the affected site to evacuate its contents. Compare 26992 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Guam.

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 26992 in Guam?

Guam 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

$960.75

1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.

Payment area: Hawaii, Guam

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.

Find 26992 in your payment locality →

Orthopedic surgery

About 26992: Operative drainage of bone lesion

Reports operative drainage of a lesion within bone when the surgeon opens the affected site to evacuate its contents.

This service involves surgically opening a bone lesion to drain its contents. An orthopedic surgeon or another surgeon treating bone disease typically performs it in an operating room or other surgical facility. The operative report should identify the bone and lesion treated, describe the approach and drainage performed, and distinguish the target from a nearby soft-tissue collection or bursa.

Report the code when the operative work is drainage of the bone lesion, rather than diagnostic bone sampling or removal of a tumor. CMS assigns a 90-day global period: the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care are included. 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. Assistant-at-surgery payment requires documentation of medical necessity; co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.

CMS billing rules for 26992

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 RVU13.14 · 46%
  • Practice expense (office) RVU12.28 · 43%
  • Malpractice RVU2.87 · 10%

324

Medicare services in 2024 · #3935 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.

26992 compared with similar codes

Office rates for Guam, from the same CMS release.

26990

Abscess drainage

Deep abscess or hematoma

No office rate

Use 26992 for drainage of a lesion within bone. Code 26990 describes drainage directed to a pelvic lesion rather than a bone lesion.

26991

Bursa drainage

Pelvis or hip area

$789.12

Code 26991 concerns drainage of a pelvic bursa. This code is for drainage of a lesion within bone.

20245

Bone biopsy

Open approach, deep site

No office rate

Code 20245 is for open bone biopsy to obtain diagnostic tissue. Use 26992 when the operative work is drainage of the bone lesion.

Compare 26992 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

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

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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 26992 in Hawaii, Guam.

PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv

2,708

Code
26992
Physician work
13.14
Practice expense
12.28
Malpractice
2.87

GPCI2026.csv

46

Locality
Hawaii, Guam
Physician work
1.000
Practice expense
1.137
Malpractice
0.579
Facility calculation for 26992 in Hawaii, Guam
ComponentRVULocality factorAdjusted
Physician work13.14× 1.00013.1400
Practice expense12.28× 1.13713.9624
Malpractice2.87× 0.5791.6617
Total RVUs28.7641
Conversion factor× 33.4009

Facility rate, Hawaii, Guam$960.75

Explore RVUs, geographic factors and the full formula

Facility

Facility calculation inputs
ComponentRVULocal GPCI
Work13.141
Practice expense12.281.137
Malpractice2.870.579

(13.14 × 1 + 12.28 × 1.137 + 2.87 × 0.579) × $33.4009 = $960.75

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.

26992 billing questions

How is this different from a bone biopsy?

This code describes operative drainage of a bone lesion. A bone biopsy code is used when the service is obtaining tissue for diagnosis rather than draining the lesion.

What documentation supports reporting this code?

Document the bone and lesion treated, the operative approach, and the drainage performed. The note should make clear that the target was within bone, not a bursa or adjacent soft tissue.

Can an assistant surgeon be reported?

Assistant-at-surgery payment is allowed only when the record documents medical necessity. Co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted for this code.

Does modifier 50 apply when lesions are treated on both sides?

No. CMS identifies bilateral adjustment as inappropriate for this code; modifier 50 should not be used.

What postoperative care is included?

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.

RVUs for 26992PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv, line 2,708 (RVU26D)
Geographic factors for Hawaii, GuamGPCI2026.csv, line 46 (RVU26D)