No office rate
33020 involves surgical access to remove a clot or foreign body. 33016 is image-guided needle drainage of pericardial fluid.
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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
33020 Pericardiotomy Medicare reimbursement rates in Massachusetts
Reports surgical opening of the pericardium to remove a clot or foreign body, including cases performed with or without cardiopulmonary bypass. Compare 33020 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 33020 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
No supported rate
Facility setting
$778.72–$829.69
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.
Cardiac surgery
About 33020: Pericardiotomy for clot or foreign body
Reports surgical opening of the pericardium to remove a clot or foreign body, including cases performed with or without cardiopulmonary bypass.
A cardiac or thoracic surgeon opens the pericardium to remove a clot or foreign body, such as retained material causing compression around the heart. This is an operative service, commonly performed in a hospital operating room when the problem requires direct surgical access rather than needle or catheter drainage. The procedure may be performed with or without cardiopulmonary bypass.
Report the code when the operative record supports pericardial incision for clot or foreign-body removal; a pericardial window for effusion or pericardial tissue resection is a different service. The major-surgery global period includes the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care. When multiple procedures are performed in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures are subject to the standard multiple-procedure reduction. Modifier 50 is inappropriate. An assistant at surgery may be paid; co-surgeons require supporting documentation, and team surgery is not permitted.
CMS billing rules for 33020
- 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 RVU13.95 · 59%
- Practice expense (office) RVU6.10 · 26%
- Malpractice RVU3.41 · 15%
172
Medicare services in 2024 · #4461 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.
33020 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Massachusetts, from the same CMS release.
No office rate
33017 provides catheter-based pericardial drainage for the specified age and congenital-anomaly group. 33020 is an operative incision for clot or foreign-body removal.
No office rate
33025 creates a pericardial window or partially resects tissue for drainage. Use 33020 when the operation is for removal of a clot or foreign body.
Compare 33020 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
Unavailable
Facility
$829.69
Rest Of Massachusetts →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$778.72
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33020 billing questions
How does this differ from pericardiocentesis?
This code is for surgical pericardial access to remove a clot or foreign body. Pericardiocentesis uses needle or catheter access to drain pericardial fluid.
Is a pericardial window reported with this code?
A window created to provide drainage is a distinct service, generally represented by 33025. Choose based on the operation documented, not simply the fact that the pericardium was opened.
What documentation supports reporting 33020?
The operative report should establish the pericardial incision and removal of a clot or foreign body. It should also describe the operative approach and whether cardiopulmonary bypass was used.
Can modifier 50 be used?
No. The CMS bilateral adjustment does not apply to this code, and modifier 50 is inappropriate.
How are other procedures in the same session paid?
Under the standard multiple-procedure reduction, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures performed in the same session are subject to reduction. The code has a 90-day global period for related postoperative care.
May an assistant or co-surgeon be reported?
An assistant at surgery may be paid. Co-surgeons are paid only with 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.
3,81633018,,Prcrd drg 0-5yr or w/anomly,A,,5.27,0.99,NA,0.99,,1.27,7.53,7.53,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,81733019,,Perq prcrd drg insj cath ct,A,,4.18,0.68,NA,0.68,,0.51,5.37,5.37,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,8183301F,,Cancer stage docd metast,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
3,81933020,,Incision of heart sac,A,,13.95,6.10,NA,6.10,,3.41,23.46,23.46,0,090,0.09,0.84,0.07,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,82033025,,Incision of heart sac,A,,12.87,6.11,NA,6.11,,3.18,22.16,22.16,0,090,0.09,0.84,0.07,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,82133030,,Partial removal of heart sac,A,,35.10,12.42,NA,12.42,,8.70,56.22,56.22,0,090,0.09,0.84,0.07,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,82233031,,Partial removal of heart sac,A,,43.88,14.45,NA,14.45,,10.88,69.21,69.21,0,090,0.09,0.84,0.07,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00