$77.27
Choose 20700 for a device placed in a deep location; 20704 is for placement within a joint.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
20704 Drug device placement Medicare reimbursement rates in Iowa
This add-on covers manual preparation and placement of a drug-delivery device within a joint during a related primary orthopedic procedure. Compare 20704 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Iowa.
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 20704 in Iowa?
Iowa 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
$140.81
1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.
Payment area: Iowa
One mapped payment locality.
Facility setting
$116.05
1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.
Payment area: Iowa
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.
Orthopedic surgery
About 20704: Manual intra-articular drug device placement
This add-on covers manual preparation and placement of a drug-delivery device within a joint during a related primary orthopedic procedure.
An orthopedic surgeon reports 20704 when manually preparing a drug-delivery device and placing it inside a joint during operative treatment. A common situation is staged management of an infected joint, with antibiotic mixed into cement and formed as an intra-articular spacer or beads. The work is performed in the operating room as part of the joint procedure; this code identifies device preparation and placement, not the underlying debridement, revision, or other primary operation.
Report 20704 only with a primary procedure; it is an add-on and is not submitted by itself. The operative note should identify the joint, describe manual preparation of the drug-delivery device and its intra-articular placement, and support the associated primary procedure. CMS places payment for this add-on within the primary procedure's global period. Select this code by the device's final location: placement in the joint, rather than deep soft tissue or the intramedullary canal, distinguishes it from neighboring insertion codes.
CMS billing rules for 20704
- Global period
- Add-on code: billed only together with a primary procedure and paid within that procedure's global period.
Where the value comes from
- Work RVU2.54 · 55%
- Practice expense (office) RVU1.61 · 35%
- Malpractice RVU0.51 · 11%
1.3K
Medicare services in 2024 · #2795 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.
20704 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Iowa, from the same CMS release.
$133.84
Choose 20702 for placement in the intramedullary canal. Code 20704 applies when the device is placed intra-articularly.
$115.88
Code 20705 describes removal of an intra-articular device. Code 20704 describes its manual preparation and insertion.
Compare 20704 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
Iowa →
Office / nonfacility
$140.81
Facility
$116.05
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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 20704 in Iowa.
PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv
1,794
- Code
- 20704
- Physician work
- 2.54
- Practice expense
- 1.61
- Malpractice
- 0.51
GPCI2026.csv
53
- Locality
- Iowa
- Physician work
- 1.000
- Practice expense
- 0.915
- Malpractice
- 0.397
| Component | RVU | Locality factor | Adjusted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physician work | 2.54 | × 1.000 | 2.5400 |
| Practice expense | 1.61 | × 0.915 | 1.4732 |
| Malpractice | 0.51 | × 0.397 | 0.2025 |
| Total RVUs | 4.2156 | ||
| Conversion factor | × 33.4009 | ||
Office / nonfacility rate, Iowa$140.81
Explore RVUs, geographic factors and the full formula
Office / nonfacility
| Component | RVU | Local GPCI |
|---|---|---|
| Work | 2.54 | 1 |
| Practice expense | 1.61 | 0.915 |
| Malpractice | 0.51 | 0.397 |
(2.54 × 1 + 1.61 × 0.915 + 0.51 × 0.397) × $33.4009 = $140.81
Facility
| Component | RVU | Local GPCI |
|---|---|---|
| Work | 2.54 | 1 |
| Practice expense | 0.8 | 0.915 |
| Malpractice | 0.51 | 0.397 |
(2.54 × 1 + 0.8 × 0.915 + 0.51 × 0.397) × $33.4009 = $116.05
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.
20704 billing questions
Can 20704 be billed by itself?
No. It is an add-on code and must be billed with a primary procedure.
How is 20704 different from 20702?
Use 20704 when the device is placed inside a joint. Code 20702 is for placement in the intramedullary canal.
Does 20704 include the joint operation?
No. It reports manual preparation and intra-articular placement of the drug-delivery device; the associated primary procedure is reported separately.
What should the operative note support?
Document the joint involved, manual preparation of the device, its placement within the joint, and the related primary procedure.
Which code describes later removal of the device?
Code 20705 describes removal of an intra-articular drug-delivery device; 20704 describes preparation and insertion.
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.
1,79120701,,Rmvl deep rx delivery device,A,,1.10,0.66,,0.33,,0.21,1.97,1.64,0,ZZZ,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,79220702,,Mnl prep&insj imed rx dev,A,,2.44,1.50,,0.75,,0.49,4.43,3.68,0,ZZZ,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,79320703,,Rmvl imed rx delivery device,A,,1.76,1.11,,0.56,,0.38,3.25,2.70,0,ZZZ,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,79420704,,Mnl prep&insj i-artic rx dev,A,,2.54,1.61,,0.80,,0.51,4.66,3.85,0,ZZZ,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,79520705,,Rmvl i-artic rx delivery dev,A,,2.10,1.31,,0.65,,0.43,3.84,3.18,0,ZZZ,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,79620802,,Replantation arm complete,A,,41.55,23.01,NA,23.01,,8.86,73.42,73.42,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,2,1,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,79720805,,Replant forearm complete,A,,50.17,25.91,NA,25.91,,10.72,86.80,86.80,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,2,1,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
5006102,IL,15,SUBURBAN CHICAGO,1.007,1.027,1.772
5106102,IL,99,REST OF ILLINOIS,1.000,0.913,1.563
5208102,IN,00,INDIANA,1.000,0.927,0.486
5305102,IA,00,IOWA,1.000,0.915,0.397
5405202,KS,00,KANSAS,1.000,0.904,0.504
5515102,KY,00,KENTUCKY,1.000,0.889,0.915
5607202,LA,01,NEW ORLEANS,1.000,0.941,1.136