Hot or cold packs therapy
Hot or cold packs provide thermal treatment without cycling pressure. Use 97016 when a vasopneumatic device applies cyclic compression, whether or not it also delivers cold.
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
Report supervised vasopneumatic compression therapy for swelling after injury or surgery, or for lymphedema, when a device applies cyclic pressure. Compare 97016 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Missouri.
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.
Missouri has 3 payment localities in this comparison. Use the service location to choose the applicable amount. These are the supported base rates for the 3 payment areas shown below, using the same CMS release.
$11.23–$11.75
3 of 3 localities have a supported rate.
No 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.
3 payment localities
$11.23 to $11.75
Physical therapy
Report supervised vasopneumatic compression therapy for swelling after injury or surgery, or for lymphedema, when a device applies cyclic pressure.
A vasopneumatic device inflates and deflates a sleeve, boot, or wrap around a limb or joint to apply cyclic pressure to swollen tissue. Some devices also circulate cold fluid. Physical and occupational therapists, and assistants working under them, use the treatment in outpatient rehabilitation for postoperative knee swelling, ankle sprains, or arm or leg lymphedema. The clinician sets up and supervises the modality but need not remain one-on-one throughout the treatment.
Report one untimed unit per date of service, even if the device treats more than one area or runs for a longer period. The record should identify the treated area, duration, relevant device settings when available, the swelling and its functional effects, and the patient's response under the therapy plan of care. Objective measurements can help demonstrate progress but are not required at every session. A professional component modifier is not used for this therapy service. When multiple therapy units are furnished on the same day, Medicare reduces practice expense payment for the second and later units.
988.7K
Medicare services in 2024 · #144 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.
Office rates for Missouri, from the same CMS release.
Hot or cold packs therapy
Hot or cold packs provide thermal treatment without cycling pressure. Use 97016 when a vasopneumatic device applies cyclic compression, whether or not it also delivers cold.
Manual lymphatic drainage is hands-on manual therapy billed in 15-minute units. Vasopneumatic therapy uses a compression device and is reported as one untimed unit per date of service.
Electric stimulation therapy
Unattended electrical stimulation delivers current through electrodes; vasopneumatic therapy delivers cyclic pressure through a sleeve or wrap. Both are supervised, untimed modalities.
Ultrasound requires constant attendance and is billed in 15-minute units. Vasopneumatic therapy is supervised and reported as one untimed unit per date of service.
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.
3 of 3 payment localities
Office / nonfacility
$11.67
Facility
Unavailable
Office / nonfacility
$11.75
Facility
Unavailable
Office / nonfacility
$11.23
Facility
Unavailable
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Report one unit per date of service. A longer application or treatment of multiple areas does not increase the unit count.
Do not separately report a cold pack for cold delivered as part of the vasopneumatic device treatment.
No. Vasopneumatic therapy is a supervised modality; it does not require the constant one-on-one attendance required for timed modalities such as ultrasound.
Use GP for treatment under a physical therapy plan of care or GO under an occupational therapy plan of care. Do not use a professional component modifier.
No. This code reports supervised outpatient treatment, not a pump or sleeve supplied for home use as durable medical equipment.
Document the cause and extent of swelling, its effect on function, the area treated, treatment duration, and the patient's response. Girth or volume measurements can help show progress over the course of care.
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.