$37.93–$42.05
76937 covers qualifying ultrasound guidance for vascular access, including vessel patency evaluation and visualization of needle entry. Use 76942 for guidance into a nonvascular target, such as an organ, mass, or fluid collection.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
76942 Ultrasound needle guidance Medicare reimbursement rates in Pennsylvania
Real-time ultrasound guidance for biopsy, aspiration, injection, or localization needle placement, reported when imaging guidance is separately billable from the primary procedure. Compare 76942 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Pennsylvania.
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 76942 in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania has 2 payment localities in this comparison. Use the service location to choose the applicable amount. These are the supported base rates for the 2 payment areas shown below, using the same CMS release.
Office / nonfacility
$60.69–$66.46
2 of 2 localities have a supported rate.
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.
Radiology
About 76942: Ultrasound guidance for percutaneous needle placement
Real-time ultrasound guidance for biopsy, aspiration, injection, or localization needle placement, reported when imaging guidance is separately billable from the primary procedure.
This service covers the imaging portion of a needle procedure: the operator uses ultrasound to locate the target, plan a path, and watch the needle reach its destination. Typical pairings include percutaneous liver and kidney biopsies, needle biopsies of superficial lymph nodes or soft tissue masses, cyst aspirations, and placement of localization devices. Radiologists, interventional specialists, nephrologists, and surgeons perform it in hospital outpatient departments, imaging centers, ASCs, and offices.
Report 76942 with a separate procedure code when ultrasound guidance is not included or bundled with that procedure. Image-guided fine needle aspiration, image-guided breast biopsy, paracentesis, thoracentesis, and ultrasound-guided joint procedure codes already account for guidance. Documentation should identify the target, describe ultrasound visualization of needle placement, and include a retained image and report. CMS prices professional and technical components separately: modifier 26 identifies the documented professional guidance service, modifier TC identifies equipment and staff, and billing without either modifier represents the complete service.
CMS billing rules for 76942
- Professional and technical components
- Diagnostic test with a professional component (modifier 26, interpretation) and a technical component (modifier TC, equipment and staff); billing without a modifier is the global service.
Where the value comes from
- Work RVU0.65 · 34%
- Practice expense (office) RVU1.23 · 64%
- Malpractice RVU0.04 · 2%
659.8K
Medicare services in 2024 · #191 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.
76942 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Pennsylvania, from the same CMS release.
76940
No office rateUs guide tissue ablation
76940 describes ultrasound guidance and monitoring for tissue ablation. Use 76942 for guidance of needle placement for a biopsy, aspiration, injection, or localization device rather than ablation.
76998
No office rateUs guide intraop
76998 describes ultrasound guidance during an operation. Code 76942 describes ultrasound guidance for needle placement, such as a percutaneous biopsy or aspiration.
$116.93–$127.34
Both guide needle placement, but 77012 uses CT and 76942 uses ultrasound. Choose the code for the modality documented as guiding the needle.
Compare 76942 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.
2 of 2 payment localities
Metropolitan Philadelphia →
Office / nonfacility
$66.46
Facility
Unavailable
Rest Of Pennsylvania →
Office / nonfacility
$60.69
Facility
Unavailable
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76942 billing questions
Can 76942 be reported with ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration codes?
No. An ultrasound-guided FNA code such as 10005 includes the guidance. Report 76942 only when guidance is separately billable from the primary needle procedure.
Which modifier applies when a physician performs the biopsy in a hospital outpatient department?
Append modifier 26 only if the physician also performs and documents the professional ultrasound guidance service. The hospital provides the technical portion through its equipment and staff.
What documentation supports 76942?
The record should describe the target and ultrasound-visualized needle placement, with a retained image and report. Ultrasound used only to mark a site before needle placement does not establish real-time guidance.
Can 76942 be billed with an arthrocentesis or joint injection?
When ultrasound guides the joint procedure, report the appropriate ultrasound-guided joint code, such as 20604, 20606, or 20611, rather than pairing a nonguided joint code with 76942.
Is 76942 appropriate for ultrasound-guided vascular access or tissue ablation?
Use 76937 for qualifying ultrasound-guided vascular access and 76940 for ultrasound guidance of tissue ablation. Code 76942 describes guidance for needle placement into a target for procedures such as biopsy or aspiration.
Do repeat needle passes into the same target create additional 76942 units?
No. Repeat passes during the same guided needle procedure do not each create a separate guidance 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.
8,86876941,,Echo guide for transfusion,C,,0.00,0.00,,0.00,NA,0.00,0.00,0.00,1,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
8,86976941,26,Echo guide for transfusion,A,,1.31,0.55,,0.55,,0.06,1.92,1.92,1,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
8,87076941,TC,Echo guide for transfusion,C,,0.00,0.00,,0.00,NA,0.00,0.00,0.00,1,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,03,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
8,87176942,,Echo guide for biopsy,A,,0.65,1.23,,1.23,NA,0.04,1.92,1.92,1,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
8,87276942,26,Echo guide for biopsy,A,,0.65,0.26,,0.26,,0.03,0.94,0.94,1,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
8,87376942,TC,Echo guide for biopsy,A,,0.00,0.97,,0.97,NA,0.01,0.98,0.98,1,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,03,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
8,87476945,,Echo guide villus sampling,C,,0.00,0.00,,0.00,NA,0.00,0.00,0.00,1,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00