No office rate
Use 61736 for one trajectory treating one simple lesion; use 61737 for multiple trajectories or multiple or complex lesions.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
61737 Laser ablation Medicare reimbursement rates in Michigan
Reports intracranial laser interstitial thermal therapy involving multiple trajectories or multiple or complex lesions, performed to thermally ablate selected brain lesions. Compare 61737 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Michigan.
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 61737 in Michigan?
Michigan 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
$1364.14–$1553.33
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.
Neurosurgery
About 61737: Intracranial laser thermal ablation, complex
Reports intracranial laser interstitial thermal therapy involving multiple trajectories or multiple or complex lesions, performed to thermally ablate selected brain lesions.
A neurosurgeon uses stereotactic planning to guide laser probes through one or more small cranial openings and heat targeted intracranial tissue. The technique may be used for selected brain tumors or epileptogenic lesions when thermal ablation is the planned treatment. This code represents the more involved LITT service, such as treatment requiring multiple trajectories or addressing multiple or complex lesions; it is not the single-trajectory, single-simple-lesion service.
Select the code from the operative plan and report: documentation should identify the lesion or lesions treated, their relevant complexity, the trajectories used, and the ablation performed. The stereotactic work integral to the LITT service is not separately reported as another portion of this procedure. CMS assigns a 0-day global period, so same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included. For a qualifying bilateral procedure, modifier 50 applies and Medicare pays at 150%. Assistant-at-surgery payment requires documented medical necessity; co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.
CMS billing rules for 61737
- Global period
- Minor procedure with a 0-day global period: same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included.
- Bilateral procedures
- Bilateral procedure with modifier 50 is paid at 150%.
- Assistant at surgery
- Assistant at surgery is paid only with documentation of medical necessity.
- Co-surgeons
- Co-surgeons not permitted.
- Team surgery
- Team surgery not permitted.
Where the value comes from
- Work RVU22.10 · 55%
- Practice expense (office) RVU8.99 · 22%
- Malpractice RVU9.33 · 23%
86
Medicare services in 2024 · #4993 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.
61737 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Michigan, from the same CMS release.
No office rate
61796 reports stereotactic radiosurgery for a simple cranial lesion. This code reports laser interstitial thermal ablation, not radiosurgery.
No office rate
61798 reports stereotactic radiosurgery for a complex cranial lesion. Choose this code when the performed treatment is LITT instead.
Compare 61737 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
Detroit →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$1553.33
Rest Of Michigan →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$1364.14
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61737 billing questions
How does this code differ from 61736?
61736 is for LITT using one trajectory to treat one simple lesion. Report 61737 when the service involves multiple trajectories or multiple or complex lesions.
Can stereotactic guidance be billed separately?
The stereotactic work integral to the LITT service is included in this procedure. Do not separately report that same work as a distinct service.
What documentation supports choosing 61737?
The operative report should describe the treated lesion or lesions, the reason the treatment is multiple or complex, the trajectories used, and the laser ablation performed.
How is a bilateral procedure reported?
For a qualifying bilateral procedure, report modifier 50; CMS pays the bilateral service at 150%.
Can an assistant or co-surgeon be reported?
Assistant-at-surgery payment is allowed only when medical necessity is documented. 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.
6,87661720,,Incise skull/brain surgery,A,,17.18,13.38,NA,13.38,,7.25,37.81,37.81,0,090,0.11,0.76,0.13,2,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
6,87761735,,Incise skull/brain surgery,A,,21.79,16.06,NA,16.06,,9.19,47.04,47.04,0,090,0.11,0.76,0.13,2,0,1,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
6,87861736,,Litt icr 1 traj 1 smpl les,A,,18.58,7.75,NA,7.75,,7.85,34.18,34.18,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
6,87961737,,Litt icr mlt trj mlt/cplx ls,A,,22.10,8.99,NA,8.99,,9.33,40.42,40.42,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,1,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
6,88061750,,Incise skull/brain biopsy,A,,19.33,14.03,NA,14.03,,8.12,41.48,41.48,0,090,0.11,0.76,0.13,2,0,1,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
6,88161751,,Brain biopsy w/ct/mr guide,A,,18.32,15.49,NA,15.49,,7.70,41.51,41.51,0,090,0.11,0.76,0.13,2,0,1,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
6,88261760,,Implant brain electrodes,A,,21.83,15.49,NA,15.49,,9.21,46.53,46.53,0,090,0.11,0.76,0.13,2,0,1,2,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00