Use 27520 for closed treatment of a patellar fracture without manipulation; use 27524 when the fracture receives open surgical treatment.
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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
27524 Patellar fracture repair Medicare reimbursement rates in Kentucky
Report this service when a surgeon treats a patellar fracture through an open approach, using fixation or partial or complete patellectomy with soft-tissue repair. Compare 27524 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Kentucky.
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 27524 in Kentucky?
Kentucky 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
$666.14
1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.
Payment area: Kentucky
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 27524: Open treatment of patellar fracture
Report this service when a surgeon treats a patellar fracture through an open approach, using fixation or partial or complete patellectomy with soft-tissue repair.
This code covers open surgical treatment of a kneecap fracture. The surgeon exposes the fracture, restores alignment, and stabilizes it with fixation when performed; the procedure may instead or also include partial or complete removal of the patella and repair of associated soft tissue. Orthopedic surgeons most often perform it in a hospital operating room or ambulatory surgery center for a fracture requiring operative treatment.
Select the code from the procedure actually performed, not the fracture image alone: closed treatment belongs to a different patellar-fracture code. The operative report should identify the patella and side, open approach, fracture treatment, fixation or patellectomy performed, and soft-tissue repair. Medicare assigns a 90-day global period, including 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%. Bilateral reporting with modifier 50 is paid at 150%. An assistant at surgery may be paid; co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation, and team surgery is not permitted.
CMS billing rules for 27524
- 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 procedure with modifier 50 is paid at 150%.
- 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 RVU10.11 · 48%
- Practice expense (office) RVU8.89 · 42%
- Malpractice RVU2.11 · 10%
7.7K
Medicare services in 2024 · #1611 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.
27524 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Kentucky, from the same CMS release.
This code is for primary repair of an infrapatellar tendon injury. It is not the patellar-fracture treatment code used for open fracture surgery.
Compare 27524 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
Kentucky →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$666.14
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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 27524 in Kentucky.
PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv
2,938
- Code
- 27524
- Physician work
- 10.11
- Practice expense
- 8.89
- Malpractice
- 2.11
GPCI2026.csv
55
- Locality
- Kentucky
- Physician work
- 1.000
- Practice expense
- 0.889
- Malpractice
- 0.915
| Component | RVU | Locality factor | Adjusted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physician work | 10.11 | × 1.000 | 10.1100 |
| Practice expense | 8.89 | × 0.889 | 7.9032 |
| Malpractice | 2.11 | × 0.915 | 1.9306 |
| Total RVUs | 19.9439 | ||
| Conversion factor | × 33.4009 | ||
Facility rate, Kentucky$666.14
Explore RVUs, geographic factors and the full formula
Facility
| Component | RVU | Local GPCI |
|---|---|---|
| Work | 10.11 | 1 |
| Practice expense | 8.89 | 0.889 |
| Malpractice | 2.11 | 0.915 |
(10.11 × 1 + 8.89 × 0.889 + 2.11 × 0.915) × $33.4009 = $666.14
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.
27524 billing questions
How is 27524 different from 27520 or 27522?
27524 is for open surgical treatment of the patellar fracture. Codes 27520 and 27522 describe closed treatment, without and with manipulation, respectively.
What should the operative note document?
Document the patellar fracture and side, the open approach, and the treatment performed, including fixation, patellectomy, and soft-tissue repair as applicable.
Can modifier 50 be used for bilateral patellar fracture treatment?
Yes. CMS identifies this as a bilateral procedure; bilateral reporting with modifier 50 is paid at 150%.
How does Medicare apply the multiple-procedure rule?
When multiple procedures are performed in the same session, Medicare pays the highest-valued procedure in full and the other procedures at 50%.
Can an assistant or co-surgeon be reported?
An assistant at surgery may be paid. Co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation; 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.
