No office rate
Choose 15940 for primary suture closure. Choose 15944 when a skin flap is used to close the ischial defect.
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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
15944 Pressure ulcer excision Medicare reimbursement rates in Minnesota
For an ischial pressure ulcer requiring excision and local skin-flap closure, report this reconstructive procedure when the operative work matches that approach. Compare 15944 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Minnesota.
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 15944 in Minnesota?
Minnesota 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
$808.90
1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.
Payment area: Minnesota
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.
Reconstructive surgery
About 15944: Ischial pressure ulcer excision with skin flap
For an ischial pressure ulcer requiring excision and local skin-flap closure, report this reconstructive procedure when the operative work matches that approach.
This procedure removes a pressure ulcer over the ischial area and closes the resulting defect with a skin flap. It is typically performed by a plastic, reconstructive, or other surgeon experienced in pressure-ulcer reconstruction, often in a facility setting for a patient with a chronic, deep wound over the sitting bone. The operative report should identify the ischial location, describe the excision and flap used, and document the closure performed.
Select this code when the wound is closed with a skin flap and the service does not include the bone removal represented by a different code in this family. A primary suture closure or a procedure that includes ostectomy calls for a different selection. This major surgery has a 90-day global period, including the day-before preoperative visit and related postoperative care during that period. When multiple procedures are performed in the same session, the highest-valued is paid in full and other procedures are subject to the standard 50% reduction. Modifier 50 is inappropriate for this descriptor and anatomy. Assistant-at-surgery payment requires medical-necessity documentation; co-surgeon and team-surgery reporting are not permitted.
CMS billing rules for 15944
- 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 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 RVU12.13 · 48%
- Practice expense (office) RVU11.10 · 44%
- Malpractice RVU2.25 · 9%
52
Medicare services in 2024 · #5325 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.
15944 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Minnesota, from the same CMS release.
No office rate
15941 includes ostectomy with primary closure; 15944 describes skin-flap closure without that bone-removal component.
No office rate
Both describe skin-flap closure at the ischial site, but 15945 includes ostectomy. Use 15944 when the documented procedure does not include that bone removal.
No office rate
15946 involves preparation of a muscle flap. Use 15944 for closure with a skin flap when the operative work supports that approach.
Compare 15944 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
Minnesota →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$808.90
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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 15944 in Minnesota.
PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv
1,603
- Code
- 15944
- Physician work
- 12.13
- Practice expense
- 11.10
- Malpractice
- 2.25
GPCI2026.csv
66
- Locality
- Minnesota
- Physician work
- 1.000
- Practice expense
- 1.029
- Malpractice
- 0.296
| Component | RVU | Locality factor | Adjusted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physician work | 12.13 | × 1.000 | 12.1300 |
| Practice expense | 11.10 | × 1.029 | 11.4219 |
| Malpractice | 2.25 | × 0.296 | 0.6660 |
| Total RVUs | 24.2179 | ||
| Conversion factor | × 33.4009 | ||
Facility rate, Minnesota$808.90
Explore RVUs, geographic factors and the full formula
Facility
| Component | RVU | Local GPCI |
|---|---|---|
| Work | 12.13 | 1 |
| Practice expense | 11.1 | 1.029 |
| Malpractice | 2.25 | 0.296 |
(12.13 × 1 + 11.1 × 1.029 + 2.25 × 0.296) × $33.4009 = $808.90
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.
15944 billing questions
How is this different from 15940?
15940 describes ischial pressure-ulcer excision with primary closure. Use 15944 when the defect is closed with a skin flap.
When should 15945 be considered instead?
15945 is the ischial skin-flap option that includes ostectomy. The operative report must support bone removal to select that code rather than 15944.
Can the skin-flap closure be billed separately?
The flap closure is part of the service represented by 15944. Do not separately report a routine closure of the excision defect.
What documentation supports reporting 15944?
Document the pressure ulcer's ischial location, the excision performed, and the skin flap used to close the defect. State whether bone was removed, since ostectomy changes the code selection.
Can modifier 50 be used for bilateral ischial ulcers?
Modifier 50 is inappropriate for this descriptor and anatomy. The CMS bilateral adjustment is not available for 15944.
What limits apply to assistant or co-surgeon reporting?
Assistant-at-surgery payment requires documentation of medical necessity. Co-surgeon and team-surgery reporting are not permitted for this procedure.
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.
1,60015937,,Exc sac pr ulc prep mus ostc,A,,14.76,10.05,NA,10.05,,2.72,27.53,27.53,0,090,0.10,0.71,0.19,2,0,1,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,60115940,,Exc ischial pr ulc prim sutr,A,,9.95,7.67,NA,7.67,,2.27,19.89,19.89,0,090,0.10,0.71,0.19,2,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,60215941,,Exc isch pr ulc prm sut ostc,A,,12.10,11.58,NA,11.58,,2.25,25.93,25.93,0,090,0.10,0.71,0.19,2,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,60315944,,Exc isch pr ulc skn flp clsr,A,,12.13,11.10,NA,11.10,,2.25,25.48,25.48,0,090,0.10,0.71,0.19,2,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,60415945,,Exc isch pr ulc skn flp ostc,A,,13.41,11.85,NA,11.85,,2.49,27.75,27.75,0,090,0.10,0.71,0.19,2,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,60515946,,Exc isch pr ulc prep mus flp,A,,23.52,15.33,NA,15.33,,4.88,43.73,43.73,0,090,0.10,0.71,0.19,2,0,1,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,60615950,,Exc trchntr pr ulc prim sutr,A,,7.83,8.34,NA,8.34,,1.45,17.62,17.62,0,090,0.10,0.71,0.19,2,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
6314212,MA,99,REST OF MASSACHUSETTS,1.016,1.053,0.797
6408202,MI,01,DETROIT,1.000,0.965,1.686
6508202,MI,99,REST OF MICHIGAN,1.000,0.913,1.129
6606202,MN,00,MINNESOTA,1.000,1.029,0.296
6707302,MS,00,MISSISSIPPI,1.000,0.861,0.739
6805302,MO,02,METROPOLITAN KANSAS CITY,1.000,0.939,0.977
6905302,MO,01,METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS,1.000,0.952,1.002