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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01

43261 ERCP Medicare reimbursement rates in New Mexico

Reports ERCP with forceps tissue sampling of a biliary or pancreatic duct abnormality, such as a suspected lesion or stricture. Compare 43261 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in New Mexico.

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 43261 in New Mexico?

New Mexico 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

$294.05

1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.

Payment area: New Mexico

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 43261 in your payment locality →

Gastroenterology

About 43261: ERCP with duct biopsy

Reports ERCP with forceps tissue sampling of a biliary or pancreatic duct abnormality, such as a suspected lesion or stricture.

During ERCP, a gastroenterologist advances a side-viewing endoscope through the mouth to the duodenum, accesses the biliary or pancreatic duct, and obtains one or more tissue samples. The service is used to investigate a ductal abnormality, including a suspected tumor or stricture. ERCP is typically performed in a hospital or ambulatory surgery center, often with fluoroscopic guidance.

Report this code when the ERCP includes biopsy; brushing or washing for specimens alone is a different service. The procedure report should identify the sampled site and document the tissue-sampling work. CMS assigns a 0-day global period, so same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included. When related endoscopies are performed together, endoscopy-family pricing applies. Modifier 50 is inappropriate for this service. Medicare does not pay an assistant at surgery, and co-surgeon and team-surgery billing are not permitted.

CMS billing rules for 43261

Global period
Minor procedure with a 0-day global period: same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included.
Multiple procedures
Endoscopy family pricing applies when related endoscopies are performed together.
Bilateral procedures
Bilateral adjustment does not apply; the descriptor or anatomy makes modifier 50 inappropriate.
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 RVU6.00 · 68%
  • Practice expense (office) RVU2.18 · 25%
  • Malpractice RVU0.67 · 8%

6.3K

Medicare services in 2024 · #1728 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.

43261 compared with similar codes

Office rates for New Mexico, from the same CMS release.

43260

ERCP

Brushing or washing

No office rate

Choose 43261 for tissue biopsy. Choose 43260 when ERCP specimen collection is by brushing or washing.

43262

ERCP sphincterotomy

Papillotomy performed

No office rate

43262 represents ERCP with sphincterotomy. Biopsy sampling, rather than sphincterotomy, distinguishes 43261.

43264

ERCP extraction

Duct stones or debris

No office rate

43264 represents ERCP removal of duct calculi. It is selected for stone extraction, not duct tissue biopsy.

43274

ERCP stenting

Biliary or pancreatic duct

No office rate

43274 represents ERCP duct stent placement. Use 43261 for biopsy; stent placement is a different intervention.

Compare 43261 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 43261 in New Mexico.

PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv

5,189

Code
43261
Physician work
6.00
Practice expense
2.18
Malpractice
0.67

GPCI2026.csv

77

Locality
New Mexico
Physician work
1.000
Practice expense
0.917
Malpractice
1.201
Facility calculation for 43261 in New Mexico
ComponentRVULocality factorAdjusted
Physician work6.00× 1.0006.0000
Practice expense2.18× 0.9171.9991
Malpractice0.67× 1.2010.8047
Total RVUs8.8037
Conversion factor× 33.4009

Facility rate, New Mexico$294.05

Explore RVUs, geographic factors and the full formula

Facility

Facility calculation inputs
ComponentRVULocal GPCI
Work61
Practice expense2.180.917
Malpractice0.671.201

(6 × 1 + 2.18 × 0.917 + 0.67 × 1.201) × $33.4009 = $294.05

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.

43261 billing questions

How is this different from 43260?

Use 43261 when ERCP includes tissue biopsy. Code 43260 describes ERCP with specimen collection by brushing or washing rather than biopsy.

Can brushing or washing be reported with the biopsy?

The biopsy code identifies the tissue-sampling ERCP service. Document each method performed and apply applicable coding edits and endoscopy-family pricing when related endoscopies are reported together.

Does modifier 50 apply if both sides of the biliary system are sampled?

No. CMS identifies bilateral adjustment as inapplicable to this code, and modifier 50 is inappropriate.

Can an assistant surgeon or co-surgeon be billed?

Medicare does not pay an assistant at surgery for this code. Co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.

What documentation supports reporting 43261?

The ERCP report should describe the ductal abnormality, the site sampled, and the biopsy performed. It should distinguish tissue biopsy from brushing or washing alone.

Does the code include same-day postoperative care?

Yes. The code has a 0-day global period, which includes same-day preoperative and postoperative care.

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 43261PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv, line 5,189 (RVU26D)
Geographic factors for New MexicoGPCI2026.csv, line 77 (RVU26D)