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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01

97034 Contrast baths Medicare reimbursement rates in New York

Reports therapist-applied alternating warm and cool water immersion for a body area, billed in 15-minute units as a physical therapy modality. Compare 97034 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 97034 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

$13.60–$16.03

5 of 5 localities have a supported rate.

Lowest: Rest Of New York

Highest: Nyc Suburbs/Long Island

A spread of $2.43 per service.

Facility setting

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.

Find 97034 in your payment locality →

Where 97034 pays more and less in New York

5 payment localities

$13.60 to $16.03

$13.60$14.82$16.03
One dot per payment locality, office / nonfacility. Hover a dot to see the locality; select it to open that rate.

Physical therapy

About 97034: Contrast bath therapy

Reports therapist-applied alternating warm and cool water immersion for a body area, billed in 15-minute units as a physical therapy modality.

Contrast bath therapy alternates immersion of a body area in warm and cool water as a therapeutic modality. Physical and occupational therapists commonly provide it in outpatient rehabilitation settings, often for a hand, foot, or other extremity. The treatment differs from a hot or cold pack because the area is immersed in alternating-temperature water rather than treated with a pack.

Report one unit for each 15-minute increment supported by the treatment record. Documentation should identify the treated area, the contrast-bath intervention, the time provided, and its therapeutic purpose and response. This is a therapy service; a professional component modifier does not apply. Under the therapy multiple procedure payment reduction, CMS reduces practice expense for the second and later therapy units furnished on the same day.

CMS billing rules for 97034

Professional and technical components
Therapy service: the professional component modifier does not apply.
Multiple procedures
Therapy multiple procedure payment reduction: practice expense is reduced for the second and later therapy units on the same day.

Where the value comes from

  • Work RVU0.21 · 50%
  • Practice expense (office) RVU0.20 · 48%
  • Malpractice RVU0.01 · 2%

6.5K

Medicare services in 2024 · #1705 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.

97034 compared with similar codes

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

97010

Hot or cold packs therapy

No office rate

Choose 97034 for alternating warm and cool water immersion; 97010 is for hot or cold pack treatment.

97022

Whirlpool therapy

Agitated water immersion

$15.11–$18.18

Choose 97034 for alternating-temperature immersion. Code 97022 describes whirlpool therapy with agitated water.

97018

Paraffin therapy

Superficial heat modality

$5.73–$7.12

Choose 97034 for water immersion at alternating temperatures; 97018 is paraffin bath treatment using heated wax.

Compare 97034 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

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

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97034 billing questions

How is this different from hot or cold pack therapy?

Contrast baths involve alternating warm and cool water immersion. Code 97010 describes hot or cold pack treatment, not alternating-temperature immersion.

How many units should be reported?

The code is reported in 15-minute units. Document the treatment time and the area treated to support the units billed.

Can a professional component modifier be appended?

No. CMS identifies this as a therapy service for which the professional component modifier does not apply.

How does the therapy multiple procedure payment reduction affect this service?

CMS reduces practice expense for the second and later therapy units furnished on the same day. The reduction applies to practice expense, not the work component.

When would 97022 be a better fit?

Use 97022 for whirlpool therapy involving agitated water. Code 97034 is for alternating warm and cool water immersion.

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 97034PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv, line 12,854 (RVU26D)
Open CMS sourceHow this rate is calculatedBuild a fee sheet