HCPCS G0551: Phone/internet serviceMedicare rate & RVUs in Oregon
Reports a 30-minute phone or internet service used to address a patient’s diagnostic or treatment needs remotely.
Medicare pays $36.20–$37.99 for G0551 in the office in Oregon, from Rest Of Oregon to Portland. Which amount applies depends on the service address.
Medicare allowed amount for participating (non-QP) physicians, before deductible, coinsurance and claim adjustments. Not a patient’s bill or a hospital charge.
On this page 9 sections
What G0551 covers
G0551 describes a phone or internet interaction focused on diagnosing or treating a patient’s health concern, with a 30-minute service duration. The clinical work may include discussing symptoms, evaluating information the patient provides, and determining or adjusting a treatment approach. The code is for the remote clinical interaction itself, rather than a device or the supply of digital equipment.
Select G0551 when the documented service matches its diagnostic-or-treatment purpose and 30-minute duration. The record should identify the patient concern, the clinical assessment or treatment work performed, the communication method, and the time spent. Distinguish it from nearby phone or internet codes by checking their stated service purpose and time category. The CMS facts supplied for this code list no additional payment rules; they do not establish a separate component, add-on pairing, or bundling instruction.
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.
Where G0551 pays more and less in Oregon
| Payment locality | Office | Facility |
|---|---|---|
| Portland | $37.99 | $31.68 |
| Rest Of Oregon | $36.20 | $30.54 |
How the G0551 rate is calculated
Each of G0551’s three RVUs is multiplied by a geographic index (GPCI) for the payment locality, added up, and multiplied by the conversion factor. Drag the indexes or enter a ZIP to see what moves the rate.
How the rate is built · G0551
RVUs × geographic indexes × conversion factor
Swap in your local Medicare rate.
Work 0.70Practice expense 0.35Malpractice 0.05
All indexes start at 1.000 (the national rate). Enter a ZIP or drag a slider.
Payment rules and modifiers for G0551
G0551 has no global surgery period, no multiple-procedure, bilateral or assistant-at-surgery adjustment, and no professional/technical split. What changes the payment is where the service happens: the place of service on the claim decides whether Medicare pays the office or the facility rate.
Place of service · G0551
Which rate does Medicare pay?
The POS code on the claim line (CMS-1500 box 24B).
Non-facility (office) rate · national
$36.74
The facility rate would be $31.06 (+$5.68). In a facility, the facility bills its own costs separately.
G0551 compared with similar codes
Compare codes
G0551 vs G0548 vs G0549 vs G0550: national Medicare rates
Swap in your local Medicare rate.
How to choose
- G0548Phone or internet E/M
- G0548 describes phone or internet services in the 21–30 minute category. G0551 is specifically identified as a 30-minute service for diagnosis or treatment.
- G0549Remote treatment
- G0549 identifies a phone or internet treatment service lasting over 31 minutes; G0551 is identified as a 30-minute diagnostic-or-treatment service.
- G0550Remote communication
- G0550 describes a phone or internet diagnostic-or-treatment service with a different time designation. Check the documented duration and the exact descriptor for the service provided.
G0551 billing questions
What distinguishes G0551 from the nearby phone or internet codes?
G0551 is identified as a 30-minute service for diagnosis or treatment. Compare the service purpose and duration in the applicable code descriptor before selecting a neighboring code.
What should the documentation include?
Record the patient’s concern, the clinical assessment or treatment work, whether the contact was by phone or internet, and the time spent.
Can G0551 be reported for a brief administrative call?
The descriptor identifies a diagnostic or treatment service, not an administrative contact. Document the clinical work that supports the service.
Is G0551 an add-on code?
The supplied CMS facts do not identify an add-on pairing for G0551. They also do not specify a required primary 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 indexes and the conversion factor. Services without a published rate are labeled, never given a made-up amount. Amounts are Medicare allowed amounts before claim adjustments: not a patient’s bill or a commercial rate.
CMS RVU26D · effective Oct 1, 2026 through the day before Jan 1, 2027
Show the CMS file lines behind this rate
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