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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01

61544 Seizure focus excision Medicare reimbursement rates in Minnesota

Reports craniotomy to remove an epileptogenic brain focus when electrocorticography is performed during surgery to guide the resection. Compare 61544 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 61544 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

$1598.28

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.

Find 61544 in your payment locality →

Neurosurgery

About 61544: Epileptogenic focus excision with electrocorticography

Reports craniotomy to remove an epileptogenic brain focus when electrocorticography is performed during surgery to guide the resection.

A neurosurgeon uses a craniotomy to remove a localized brain area identified as the source of seizures, with electrocorticography performed during the operation to assess cerebral electrical activity and help guide the resection. This is a surgical treatment for selected patients with drug-resistant epilepsy, typically performed in a hospital operating room after evaluation has localized a seizure focus.

Choose this code when the operative report supports excision of an epileptogenic focus and intraoperative electrocorticography. Distinguish it from codes for temporal or other lobectomy, which describe a defined lobe resection, and from tumor-excision codes. The procedure 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 procedure is paid in full and other procedures are subject to the standard 50% reduction. An assistant at surgery may be paid; co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted. Modifier 50 is inappropriate.

CMS billing rules for 61544

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 not permitted.
Team surgery
Team surgery not permitted.

Where the value comes from

  • Work RVU26.68 · 48%
  • Practice expense (office) RVU17.33 · 31%
  • Malpractice RVU11.28 · 20%

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.

61544 compared with similar codes

Office rates for Minnesota, from the same CMS release.

61543

Seizure focus excision

Without intraoperative electrocorticography

No office rate

This code includes electrocorticography during focus excision; 61543 describes focus excision without it.

61534

Epilepsy surgery

With intraoperative electrocorticography

No office rate

61534 describes temporal lobectomy with intraoperative electrocorticography. Use this code for epileptogenic focus excision when the operation is not reported as a temporal lobectomy.

61545

Brain tumor surgery

Operative tumor removal

No office rate

61545 is for excision of a brain tumor. This code is for resection of an epileptogenic focus with intraoperative electrocorticography.

Compare 61544 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

Office and facility base rates · shared scale starting at $0

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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 61544 in Minnesota.

PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv

6,803

Code
61544
Physician work
26.68
Practice expense
17.33
Malpractice
11.28

GPCI2026.csv

66

Locality
Minnesota
Physician work
1.000
Practice expense
1.029
Malpractice
0.296
Facility calculation for 61544 in Minnesota
ComponentRVULocality factorAdjusted
Physician work26.68× 1.00026.6800
Practice expense17.33× 1.02917.8326
Malpractice11.28× 0.2963.3389
Total RVUs47.8514
Conversion factor× 33.4009

Facility rate, Minnesota$1598.28

Values as parsed from CMS release RVU26D, effective 2026-10-01. The amount is rounded to the nearest cent only at the end.
Explore RVUs, geographic factors and the full formula

Facility

Facility calculation inputs
ComponentRVULocal GPCI
Work26.681
Practice expense17.331.029
Malpractice11.280.296

(26.68 × 1 + 17.33 × 1.029 + 11.28 × 0.296) × $33.4009 = $1598.28

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.

61544 billing questions

How is this different from code 61543?

Both concern excision of an epileptogenic focus, but this code includes electrocorticography during surgery. Code 61543 describes focus excision without that intraoperative study.

Does the code include electrocorticography?

Yes. Intraoperative electrocorticography is part of the service described by this code; documentation should show it was performed during the focus resection.

When would a lobectomy code be more appropriate?

Use a lobectomy code when the operation removes a defined portion or all of a brain lobe, such as a temporal lobectomy, rather than an epileptogenic focus resection described by this code.

What should the operative report document?

Document the epileptogenic focus removed, the craniotomy and resection performed, and the use of intraoperative electrocorticography.

How does the global period affect postoperative billing?

The 90-day global period includes the day-before preoperative visit and related postoperative care during the 90 days after surgery.

Can an assistant surgeon be reported?

An assistant at surgery may be paid for this procedure. Co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted under the CMS rules supplied for this code.

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.

RVUs for 61544PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv, line 6,803 (RVU26D)
Geographic factors for MinnesotaGPCI2026.csv, line 66 (RVU26D)
Open CMS sourceHow this rate is calculatedBuild a fee sheet