No office rate
Choose 68811 when nasolacrimal duct probing requires general anesthesia; 68810 describes simple probing without that requirement.
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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
68810 Tear duct probing Medicare reimbursement rates in Massachusetts
Reports probing a blocked nasolacrimal duct, with or without irrigation, when treatment does not require general anesthesia, a stent, or balloon dilation. Compare 68810 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 68810 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
$166.29–$182.94
2 of 2 localities have a supported rate.
Facility setting
$115.30–$125.12
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.
Ophthalmology
About 68810: Nasolacrimal duct probing without stent
Reports probing a blocked nasolacrimal duct, with or without irrigation, when treatment does not require general anesthesia, a stent, or balloon dilation.
An ophthalmologist passes a probe through the tear drainage pathway to open or assess an obstruction in the nasolacrimal duct. Irrigation may be used to check or restore flow. A common situation is treatment of persistent tear-duct blockage in an infant; the procedure may also be performed for duct obstruction in other patients. The service is commonly furnished in an office or outpatient setting.
Report 68810 for simple probing, with or without irrigation, when the service does not require general anesthesia and does not include tube or stent placement or balloon catheter dilation. The note should identify the treated side, the obstruction or reason for probing, the instruments and technique used, and whether irrigation was performed. This minor procedure has a 10-day global period, which includes related postoperative visits during that period. For bilateral treatment, modifier 50 is paid at 150%. When multiple procedures are performed in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures are subject to a 50% reduction. Medicare does not pay an assistant at surgery; co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.
CMS billing rules for 68810
- Global period
- Minor procedure with a 10-day global period: related postoperative visits for 10 days 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
- Statutory restriction: assistant at surgery is not paid.
- Co-surgeons
- Co-surgeons not permitted.
- Team surgery
- Team surgery not permitted.
Where the value comes from
- Work RVU1.50 · 31%
- Practice expense (office) RVU3.19 · 66%
- Malpractice RVU0.12 · 2%
14.3K
Medicare services in 2024 · #1282 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.
68810 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Massachusetts, from the same CMS release.
$387.82–$429.89
Choose 68815 when a tube or stent is inserted during probing. Simple probing, with or without irrigation, is 68810.
$871.86–$980.93
Choose 68816 when probing includes balloon catheter dilation; 68810 is for probing without that balloon technique.
$139.05–$152.92
68840 addresses probing of the lacrimal canaliculi. Use 68810 when the treated obstruction is in the nasolacrimal duct.
Compare 68810 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
$182.94
Facility
$125.12
Rest Of Massachusetts →
Office / nonfacility
$166.29
Facility
$115.30
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68810 billing questions
When should 68810 be used instead of 68811?
Use 68810 for simple nasolacrimal duct probing when the service does not require general anesthesia. Use 68811 when the probing requires general anesthesia.
Does 68810 include irrigation?
Yes. Irrigation may be performed with the probing and is included in this service.
Can 68810 be reported when a stent or balloon catheter is used?
No. Tube or stent placement is represented by 68815, and probing with balloon catheter dilation is represented by 68816.
How is bilateral probing reported?
Report bilateral treatment with modifier 50. CMS pays the bilateral procedure at 150%.
Are postoperative visits separately billable during the global period?
Related postoperative visits during the 10-day global period are included in 68810.
Can an assistant or co-surgeon be billed for 68810?
Medicare does not pay an assistant at surgery for this procedure. Co-surgeons and team surgery are 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.
7,56968761,,Close tear duct opening,A,,1.37,2.85,,1.66,,0.07,4.29,3.10,0,010,0.10,0.80,0.10,2,1,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
7,57068770,,Close tear system fistula,A,,8.08,7.31,NA,7.31,,0.64,16.03,16.03,0,090,0.10,0.70,0.20,2,1,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
7,57168801,,Dilate tear duct opening,A,,0.80,1.98,,1.30,,0.05,2.83,2.15,0,010,0.10,0.80,0.10,2,1,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
7,57268810,,Probe nasolacrimal duct,A,,1.50,3.19,,1.74,,0.12,4.81,3.36,0,010,0.10,0.80,0.10,2,1,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
7,57368811,,Probe nasolacrimal duct,A,,1.70,1.67,NA,1.67,,0.15,3.52,3.52,0,010,0.10,0.80,0.10,2,1,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
7,57468815,,Probe nasolacrimal duct,A,,2.63,8.33,,2.94,,0.21,11.17,5.78,0,010,0.10,0.80,0.10,2,1,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
7,57568816,,Probe nl duct w/balloon,A,,2.05,22.69,,1.80,,0.16,24.90,4.01,0,010,0.10,0.80,0.10,2,1,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00