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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01

73560 Knee X-ray Medicare reimbursement rates in Iowa

Plain radiographic exam of one knee with one or two projections, typically AP and lateral, for knee pain, injury, arthritis assessment, or postoperative follow-up. Compare 73560 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 73560 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

$31.59

1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.

Payment area: Iowa

One mapped payment locality.

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.

Find 73560 in your payment locality →

Radiology

About 73560: Knee radiograph, one or two views

Plain radiographic exam of one knee with one or two projections, typically AP and lateral, for knee pain, injury, arthritis assessment, or postoperative follow-up.

This study captures one or two distinct radiographic views of a single knee, most often an anteroposterior and a lateral projection. Orthopedic surgeons, primary care physicians, urgent care clinicians, and emergency clinicians order it to look for fractures, effusion, joint space narrowing, osteophytes, loose bodies, or hardware position after surgery. A radiologic technologist acquires the images in an office, imaging center, or hospital, and a radiologist or the treating physician interprets them and documents a written report.

Code selection depends on the number of views of one knee. One or two views fall here, while three views or four or more views move to the higher codes. The report should state the views obtained, findings, and impression. The service splits into a professional component (modifier 26, interpretation) and a technical component (modifier TC, equipment and staff); billing without a modifier claims the global service, which is typical when an office owns the equipment and reads its own films. When both knees receive separate unilateral examinations, report each knee with RT or LT. CMS pays each side separately at 100%.

CMS billing rules for 73560

Professional and technical components
Diagnostic test with a professional component (modifier 26, interpretation) and a technical component (modifier TC, equipment and staff); billing without a modifier is the global service.
Bilateral procedures
Each side is paid separately at 100% when performed bilaterally.

Where the value comes from

  • Work RVU0.16 · 16%
  • Practice expense (office) RVU0.85 · 83%
  • Malpractice RVU0.02 · 2%

1.4M

Medicare services in 2024 · #116 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.

73560 compared with similar codes

Office rates for Iowa, from the same CMS release.

73562

Knee X-ray

Three views, one knee

$38.98

Choose 73562 when exactly three projections of one knee are documented, often AP, lateral, and an oblique or patellar view; 73560 is limited to one or two views.

73564

Knee X-ray

Four or more views, one knee

$45.48

Use 73564 for four or more views of one knee, such as a complete series with tunnel and sunrise views; 73560 covers only one or two.

73565

Knee X-ray

Bilateral standing AP

$38.62

73565 is a single standing AP image capturing both knees together for comparison; 73560 images one knee, and separate unilateral examinations are reported per side.

73590

Lower-leg X-ray

Tibia and fibula, two views

$28.84

73590 images the tibia and fibula shafts of the lower leg; 73560 is centered on the knee joint itself.

Compare 73560 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

  • Iowa →

    Office / nonfacility

    $31.59

    Facility

    Unavailable

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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 73560 in Iowa.

PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv

8,213

Code
73560
Physician work
0.16
Practice expense
0.85
Malpractice
0.02

GPCI2026.csv

53

Locality
Iowa
Physician work
1.000
Practice expense
0.915
Malpractice
0.397
Office / nonfacility calculation for 73560 in Iowa
ComponentRVULocality factorAdjusted
Physician work0.16× 1.0000.1600
Practice expense0.85× 0.9150.7778
Malpractice0.02× 0.3970.0079
Total RVUs0.9457
Conversion factor× 33.4009

Office / nonfacility rate, Iowa$31.59

Values as parsed from CMS release RVU26D, effective 2026-10-01. The amount is rounded to the nearest cent only at the end.
Explore RVUs, geographic factors and the full formula

Office / nonfacility

Office / nonfacility calculation inputs
ComponentRVULocal GPCI
Work0.161
Practice expense0.850.915
Malpractice0.020.397

(0.16 × 1 + 0.85 × 0.915 + 0.02 × 0.397) × $33.4009 = $31.59

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.

73560 billing questions

When should a knee film be reported with this code instead of the three-view or four-view codes?

Count the distinct projections of the same knee documented in the report. One or two views, such as AP and lateral, belong here; three views go to 73562 and four or more views to 73564.

How are separate films of both knees reported?

Report the unilateral examination separately for each knee, identified with RT and LT. CMS pays each side at 100%.

Is a single standing AP view of both knees on one image reported with this code?

No. A bilateral standing anteroposterior view capturing both knees together is reported with 73565. Do not automatically bill 73560 for additional views taken during the same knee examination.

When is modifier 26 or TC appended?

Append 26 when the physician only interprets the images, such as a radiologist reading hospital films, and TC when the entity only supplies equipment and technologist. An office that both takes and reads the films bills the global service without a modifier.

Can the ordering physician bill an interpretation if a radiologist also reads the film?

Medicare generally pays one interpretation per study, the one that contributes to the patient's diagnosis and is documented in a formal report. A brief review noted in an E/M note does not support a separate 26 claim.

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 73560PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv, line 8,213 (RVU26D)
Geographic factors for IowaGPCI2026.csv, line 53 (RVU26D)
Open CMS sourceHow this rate is calculatedBuild a fee sheet