No office rate
Both codes describe open drainage of an intracranial abscess; choose by location, with 61321 for the infratentorial compartment.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
61320 Abscess drainage Medicare reimbursement rates in New York
Reports open cranial drainage of an abscess above the tentorium, such as a brain abscess treated through craniotomy or craniectomy. Compare 61320 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in New York.
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 61320 in New York?
New York has 5 payment localities in this comparison. Use the service location to choose the applicable amount. These are the supported base rates for the 5 payment areas shown below, using the same CMS release.
Office / nonfacility
No supported rate
Facility setting
$1697.93–$2321.20
5 of 5 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.
Where 61320 pays more and less in New York
Neurosurgery
About 61320: Open drainage of supratentorial brain abscess
Reports open cranial drainage of an abscess above the tentorium, such as a brain abscess treated through craniotomy or craniectomy.
This service involves opening the skull to reach and drain an intracranial abscess in the supratentorial compartment. A neurosurgeon typically performs it in an operating room when the collection requires open surgical access; material may be collected for culture as part of treating the infection. The anatomic distinction is whether the abscess lies above the tentorium, not its size or the side of the head.
Select this code when the operative report supports both open cranial access and drainage of a supratentorial abscess. Document the abscess location, approach, and drainage performed. The 90-day global period includes the day-before preoperative visit and related postoperative care during the following 90 days. If multiple procedures are performed in one session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures are subject to the standard 50% reduction. Modifier 50 is inappropriate for this service. An assistant at surgery may be paid; co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation, and team-surgery payment is not permitted.
CMS billing rules for 61320
- 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 paid only with supporting documentation.
- Team surgery
- Team surgery not permitted.
Where the value comes from
- Work RVU26.73 · 49%
- Practice expense (office) RVU17.13 · 31%
- Malpractice RVU11.14 · 20%
436
Medicare services in 2024 · #3665 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.
61320 compared with similar codes
Office rates for New York, from the same CMS release.
No office rate
This code describes open cranial drainage of a supratentorial abscess. 61750 describes stereotactic treatment of an intracranial lesion through a burr-hole approach.
No office rate
61304 describes supratentorial exploration. Use 61320 when the operative service includes open drainage of a supratentorial abscess.
Compare 61320 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.
5 of 5 payment localities
Manhattan →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$2204.92
Nyc Suburbs/Long Island →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$2321.20
Poughkpsie/N Nyc Suburbs →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$2009.72
Queens →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$2162.78
Rest Of New York →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$1697.93
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61320 billing questions
How does this code differ from 61321?
Use 61320 for an abscess above the tentorium. Code 61321 describes drainage of an abscess in the infratentorial compartment.
When might 61750 be considered instead?
61750 may describe stereotactic biopsy or aspiration of an intracranial lesion using a burr-hole approach. This code is for open cranial access to drain a supratentorial abscess.
What documentation supports reporting this code?
The operative report should identify the abscess as supratentorial and describe the open cranial approach and drainage performed.
Are related postoperative visits separately reported?
Related postoperative care during the 90-day global period is included, as is the preoperative visit on the day before surgery.
How are other procedures in the same session affected?
The highest-valued procedure is paid in full; other procedures in that session are subject to the standard multiple procedure reduction. Modifier 50 is inappropriate for this service.
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.
6,76161314,,Crnec/crnot ittl xdrl/sdrl,A,,25.25,17.69,NA,17.69,,10.62,53.56,53.56,0,090,0.11,0.76,0.13,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
6,76261315,,Crnec/crnot ittl ntracereblr,A,,28.91,19.26,NA,19.26,,12.22,60.39,60.39,0,090,0.11,0.76,0.13,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
6,76361316,,Inc&subq plmt crnl bone grf,A,,1.36,0.47,NA,0.47,,0.56,2.39,2.39,0,ZZZ,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
6,76461320,,Crnec/crnot drg icr abs sttl,A,,26.73,17.13,NA,17.13,,11.14,55.00,55.00,0,090,0.11,0.76,0.13,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
6,76561321,,Crnec/crnot drg icr abs ittl,A,,29.77,19.60,NA,19.60,,12.58,61.95,61.95,0,090,0.11,0.76,0.13,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
6,76661322,,Crnec/crnot dcmprv w/o lobec,A,,33.40,21.53,NA,21.53,,14.04,68.97,68.97,0,090,0.11,0.76,0.13,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
6,76761323,,Crnec/crnot dcmprv w/lobec,A,,34.18,20.22,NA,20.22,,14.42,68.82,68.82,0,090,0.11,0.76,0.13,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00