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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01

22015 Spinal abscess drainage Medicare reimbursement rates in Oklahoma

Reports operative drainage of a deep posterior abscess in the lumbar, sacral, or lumbosacral region, rather than a superficial skin collection. Compare 22015 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Oklahoma.

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 22015 in Oklahoma?

Oklahoma 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

$853.23

1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.

Payment area: Oklahoma

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 22015 in your payment locality →

Spine surgery

About 22015: Deep posterior lumbar spine abscess drainage

Reports operative drainage of a deep posterior abscess in the lumbar, sacral, or lumbosacral region, rather than a superficial skin collection.

This service involves surgically opening and draining a deep collection in the posterior tissues of the lumbar, sacral, or lumbosacral spine. It is typically performed by a neurosurgeon or orthopedic spine surgeon in an operating room, often for a deep spinal surgical-site infection or paraspinal abscess. The code is for a deep posterior collection, not a superficial skin abscess or an abscess within the spinal canal requiring a different operation.

Select the code based on the documented depth and posterior spinal region. The operative report should identify the collection’s location and depth and describe the drainage performed. CMS assigns a 90-day global period, including the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care. For multiple procedures in one session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and others are subject to a 50% reduction. Modifier 50 is inappropriate; assistant-at-surgery services are not paid, and co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.

CMS billing rules for 22015

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
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 RVU12.32 · 45%
  • Practice expense (office) RVU11.66 · 42%
  • Malpractice RVU3.62 · 13%

3K

Medicare services in 2024 · #2172 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.

22015 compared with similar codes

Office rates for Oklahoma, from the same CMS release.

22010

Spinal abscess drainage

Cervical or thoracic region

No office rate

Choose 22010 for a deep posterior collection in the cervical or thoracic region. Choose 22015 for the lumbar, sacral, or lumbosacral region.

10180

Wound drainage

Complex postoperative infection

$263.48

10180 describes complex drainage of a postoperative wound infection. Use 22015 when the documented service is drainage of a deep posterior collection in the specified spinal region.

63267

Spinal lesion excision

Lumbar, extradural, non-neoplastic

No office rate

63267 concerns evacuation of an extradural intraspinal lesion by a lumbar laminectomy. 22015 is for a deep posterior spinal-region collection outside that intraspinal procedure.

Compare 22015 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 22015 in Oklahoma.

PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv

2,042

Code
22015
Physician work
12.32
Practice expense
11.66
Malpractice
3.62

GPCI2026.csv

86

Locality
Oklahoma
Physician work
1.000
Practice expense
0.893
Malpractice
0.777
Facility calculation for 22015 in Oklahoma
ComponentRVULocality factorAdjusted
Physician work12.32× 1.00012.3200
Practice expense11.66× 0.89310.4124
Malpractice3.62× 0.7772.8127
Total RVUs25.5451
Conversion factor× 33.4009

Facility rate, Oklahoma$853.23

Explore RVUs, geographic factors and the full formula

Facility

Facility calculation inputs
ComponentRVULocal GPCI
Work12.321
Practice expense11.660.893
Malpractice3.620.777

(12.32 × 1 + 11.66 × 0.893 + 3.62 × 0.777) × $33.4009 = $853.23

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.

22015 billing questions

How does 22015 differ from 22010?

22015 is for a deep posterior collection in the lumbar, sacral, or lumbosacral region. 22010 is the related code for the cervical or thoracic region.

Can 22015 be used for a superficial skin abscess?

No. This code describes operative drainage of a deep posterior spinal-region collection; a superficial skin or subcutaneous abscess is coded from the appropriate skin-abscess family.

Does drainage of an intraspinal epidural abscess belong here?

Not when the operation treats an intraspinal lesion through a decompressive procedure. Code selection should reflect the actual operative target and approach; 63267 may be relevant for evacuation of an extradural intraspinal lesion in the lumbar region.

What documentation supports 22015?

Document the lumbar, sacral, or lumbosacral posterior site, the deep location of the collection, and the operative drainage performed. A note describing only a superficial wound or skin abscess does not establish this service.

Can modifier 50 or an assistant-at-surgery charge be reported?

Modifier 50 is inappropriate for this code. CMS does not pay an assistant at surgery for this service; co-surgeons and team surgery are also not permitted.

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 22015PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv, line 2,042 (RVU26D)
Geographic factors for OklahomaGPCI2026.csv, line 86 (RVU26D)
Open CMS sourceHow this rate is calculatedBuild a fee sheet