$417.36–$461.15
17312 reports an additional Mohs stage at specified head, neck, hand, foot, genital, or complex sites. 17315 reports excess tissue blocks within a stage.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
17315 Mohs block Medicare reimbursement rates in Massachusetts
Reports each Mohs tissue block beyond the first five in a stage when additional mapped specimens are needed for microscopic margin assessment. Compare 17315 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Massachusetts.
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 17315 in Massachusetts?
Massachusetts has 2 payment localities in this comparison. Use the service location to choose the applicable amount. These are the supported base rates for the 2 payment areas shown below, using the same CMS release.
Office / nonfacility
$81.71–$89.46
2 of 2 localities have a supported rate.
Facility setting
$40.56–$42.80
2 of 2 localities have a 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.
Mohs surgery
About 17315: Additional Mohs tissue block
Reports each Mohs tissue block beyond the first five in a stage when additional mapped specimens are needed for microscopic margin assessment.
During Mohs micrographic surgery, the operating physician removes and maps tumor-bearing skin, then examines prepared tissue microscopically to assess margins. Code 17315 captures tissue blocks beyond the five-block allowance for a stage. It is reported when a stage requires more than five mapped specimens for microscopic margin assessment, commonly during staged excision of a cutaneous cancer. Mohs surgeons most often perform this work in office-based dermatologic surgery.
Report 17315 for each excess block with the appropriate Mohs stage code: 17311 or 17312 for head, neck, hands, feet, genitalia, or specified complex sites; 17313 or 17314 for trunk, arms, or legs. The operative and pathology records should support the site, stages, mapping, and block count. An additional block is distinct from an additional stage, which is reported with the applicable stage code. CMS classifies 17315 as an add-on: bill it only with a primary procedure, and payment falls within that procedure’s global period.
CMS billing rules for 17315
- 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 RVU0.85 · 36%
- Practice expense (office) RVU1.45 · 61%
- Malpractice RVU0.07 · 3%
18.8K
Medicare services in 2024 · #1168 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.
17315 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Massachusetts, from the same CMS release.
$399.71–$442.05
17314 reports an additional Mohs stage on the trunk, arms, or legs. 17315 is for tissue blocks beyond five in a stage, not another stage.
$689.85–$759.51
17311 reports the first Mohs stage at specified head, neck, hand, foot, genital, or complex sites; 17315 reports excess blocks in a stage.
Compare 17315 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.
2 of 2 payment localities
Metropolitan Boston →
Office / nonfacility
$89.46
Facility
$42.80
Rest Of Massachusetts →
Office / nonfacility
$81.71
Facility
$40.56
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17315 billing questions
Does 17315 represent another Mohs stage?
No. It reports each tissue block beyond the first five in a stage; an additional stage is reported with 17312 or 17314, as appropriate.
How many units should be reported?
Report one unit for each tissue block beyond five in a stage. Count the blocks for each stage separately.
Can 17315 be billed by itself?
No. It is an add-on code and must be reported with the applicable primary Mohs procedure.
Which Mohs stage code accompanies 17315?
Use 17311 or 17312 for the applicable head, neck, hands, feet, genitalia, or specified complex sites, and 17313 or 17314 for trunk, arms, or legs.
What documentation supports 17315?
The operative and pathology records should identify the Mohs site and stages, describe the tissue mapping, and support the number of blocks, including those beyond five in a stage.
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.
1,64717312,,Mohs addl stage,A,,3.22,8.51,,1.03,,0.33,12.06,4.58,0,ZZZ,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,64817313,,Mohs 1 stage t/a/l,A,,5.42,12.80,,1.76,,0.53,18.75,7.71,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,64917314,,Mohs addl stage t/a/l,A,,2.98,8.27,,0.91,,0.29,11.54,4.18,0,ZZZ,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,65017315,,Mohs surg addl block,A,,0.85,1.45,,0.28,,0.07,2.37,1.20,0,ZZZ,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,65117340,,Cryotherapy for acne,A,,0.75,0.76,,0.44,,0.07,1.58,1.26,0,010,0.10,0.80,0.10,2,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,65217360,,Chemical exfoliation acne,A,,1.42,2.06,,0.76,,0.14,3.62,2.32,0,010,0.10,0.80,0.10,2,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,65317380,,Electrolysis epilation ea 30,R,,0.00,0.00,,0.00,,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00