No office rate
32100 describes thoracotomy for chest exploration. Choose 32160 when the surgeon opens the chest and performs direct cardiac massage.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
32160 Open-chest massage Medicare reimbursement rates in Kentucky
Reports emergency thoracotomy with direct cardiac massage, typically during resuscitation when a patient in cardiac arrest requires open-chest intervention. Compare 32160 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 32160 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
$736.55
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.
Thoracic surgery
About 32160: Emergency thoracotomy with cardiac massage
Reports emergency thoracotomy with direct cardiac massage, typically during resuscitation when a patient in cardiac arrest requires open-chest intervention.
This emergency procedure opens the chest to allow the surgeon to massage the heart directly. It is generally performed by a thoracic or trauma surgeon in a hospital setting, such as an emergency department or operating room, during resuscitation for cardiac arrest. A familiar situation is resuscitative thoracotomy after severe penetrating chest trauma when the team needs direct access to the heart.
Report the code when the operative record supports both thoracotomy and direct cardiac massage; routine external chest compressions alone are not this service. Document the arrest or resuscitation indication, the thoracotomy, and the open-chest cardiac intervention. The code has a 90-day global period, including the day-before preoperative visit and related postoperative care. When multiple procedures occur in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures are subject to the standard 50% reduction. Modifier 50 is inappropriate for this procedure. An assistant at surgery may be paid; co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation, and team surgery is not permitted.
CMS billing rules for 32160
- 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 may be paid.
- Co-surgeons
- Co-surgeons paid only with supporting documentation.
- Team surgery
- Team surgery not permitted.
Where the value comes from
- Work RVU12.77 · 55%
- Practice expense (office) RVU7.25 · 31%
- Malpractice RVU3.10 · 13%
220
Medicare services in 2024 · #4236 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.
32160 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Kentucky, from the same CMS release.
No office rate
32110 addresses thoracotomy with exploration and repair. This code is specific to thoracotomy with direct cardiac massage during resuscitation.
No office rate
32120 represents a different thoracotomy procedure. It is not a substitute when the documented intervention is open-chest cardiac massage.
Compare 32160 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
$736.55
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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 32160 in Kentucky.
PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv
3,699
- Code
- 32160
- Physician work
- 12.77
- Practice expense
- 7.25
- Malpractice
- 3.10
GPCI2026.csv
55
- Locality
- Kentucky
- Physician work
- 1.000
- Practice expense
- 0.889
- Malpractice
- 0.915
| Component | RVU | Locality factor | Adjusted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physician work | 12.77 | × 1.000 | 12.7700 |
| Practice expense | 7.25 | × 0.889 | 6.4452 |
| Malpractice | 3.10 | × 0.915 | 2.8365 |
| Total RVUs | 22.0517 | ||
| Conversion factor | × 33.4009 | ||
Facility rate, Kentucky$736.55
Explore RVUs, geographic factors and the full formula
Facility
| Component | RVU | Local GPCI |
|---|---|---|
| Work | 12.77 | 1 |
| Practice expense | 7.25 | 0.889 |
| Malpractice | 3.1 | 0.915 |
(12.77 × 1 + 7.25 × 0.889 + 3.1 × 0.915) × $33.4009 = $736.55
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.
32160 billing questions
How is this different from a chest exploration code?
Use this code when the surgeon performs direct cardiac massage through a thoracotomy. A thoracotomy for exploration or repair without open-chest massage has a different procedural objective.
Does the code include the thoracotomy incision?
Yes. The thoracotomy provides access for the direct cardiac massage described by the service; do not separately report the access incision.
Can modifier 50 be used?
No. Modifier 50 is inappropriate for this single thoracic resuscitation procedure.
What documentation supports reporting this code?
Document the resuscitation indication, the thoracotomy, and the direct cardiac massage. External chest compressions alone do not support this code.
How do the global and multiple-procedure rules affect payment?
The 90-day global period includes the day-before preoperative visit and related postoperative care. When multiple procedures are performed in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and the others are subject to the standard 50% reduction.
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.
3,69632150,,Removal of lung lesion(s),A,,16.40,8.73,NA,8.73,,4.08,29.21,29.21,0,090,0.10,0.76,0.14,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,69732151,,Remove lung foreign body,A,,16.52,8.33,NA,8.33,,4.15,29.00,29.00,0,090,0.10,0.76,0.14,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,6983215F,,Pt immunity to hep a docd,I,,0.00,0.00,,0.00,,0.00,0.00,0.00,9,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,9,9,9,9,9,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,69932160,,Open chest heart massage,A,,12.77,7.25,NA,7.25,,3.10,23.12,23.12,0,090,0.10,0.76,0.14,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,7003216F,,Pt immunity to hep b docd,I,,0.00,0.00,,0.00,,0.00,0.00,0.00,9,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,9,9,9,9,9,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,7013218F,,Rna tstng hep c docd done,I,,0.00,0.00,,0.00,,0.00,0.00,0.00,9,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,9,9,9,9,9,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,70232200,,Drain open lung lesion,A,,18.21,10.41,NA,10.41,,4.58,33.20,33.20,0,090,0.10,0.76,0.14,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
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
5707202,LA,99,REST OF LOUISIANA,1.000,0.885,0.958
5814112,ME,03,SOUTHERN MAINE,1.000,0.991,0.631