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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01

61316 Bone flap storage Medicare reimbursement rates in Tennessee

Reports placement of a cranial bone flap beneath the skin during cranial surgery so it can be preserved for possible later reconstruction. Compare 61316 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Tennessee.

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 61316 in Tennessee?

Tennessee 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

$69.74

1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.

Payment area: Tennessee

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 61316 in your payment locality →

Neurosurgery

About 61316: Subcutaneous cranial bone flap placement

Reports placement of a cranial bone flap beneath the skin during cranial surgery so it can be preserved for possible later reconstruction.

During cranial surgery, the neurosurgeon places a removed bone flap in a subcutaneous pocket, commonly in the abdomen, to preserve it for possible later cranioplasty. This is a separate storage step during the operation, not the later reconstruction of the skull. It may accompany a decompressive craniectomy when the flap cannot be replaced immediately.

Report 61316 only with a primary procedure. The operative note should identify the cranial bone flap, document its subcutaneous placement, and support that this step occurred during the same operative session as the primary cranial surgery. Do not report it for a flap that was removed but not placed subcutaneously, or for later replacement of a stored flap. CMS pays this add-on within the primary procedure's global period; it is not a standalone service.

CMS billing rules for 61316

Global period
Add-on code: billed only together with a primary procedure and paid within that procedure's global period.

Where the value comes from

  • Work RVU1.36 · 57%
  • Practice expense (office) RVU0.47 · 20%
  • Malpractice RVU0.56 · 23%

33

Medicare services in 2024 · #5602 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.

61316 compared with similar codes

Office rates for Tennessee, from the same CMS release.

61322

Cranial decompression

Without lobectomy

No office rate

61322 reports the supratentorial decompressive craniectomy without lobectomy. Report 61316 as an add-on only when the removed flap is also placed subcutaneously.

61323

Cranial decompression

With lobectomy

No office rate

61323 describes supratentorial decompression with lobectomy. It is a primary operation; 61316 separately reports subcutaneous placement of the removed cranial flap.

62143

Skull reconstruction

Bone flap or plate replacement

No office rate

62143 concerns replacement of a bone flap or prosthetic plate. 61316 describes placing a flap beneath the skin for possible later reconstruction, not replacing it.

Compare 61316 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 61316 in Tennessee.

PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv

6,763

Code
61316
Physician work
1.36
Practice expense
0.47
Malpractice
0.56

GPCI2026.csv

95

Locality
Tennessee
Physician work
1.000
Practice expense
0.909
Malpractice
0.537
Facility calculation for 61316 in Tennessee
ComponentRVULocality factorAdjusted
Physician work1.36× 1.0001.3600
Practice expense0.47× 0.9090.4272
Malpractice0.56× 0.5370.3007
Total RVUs2.0880
Conversion factor× 33.4009

Facility rate, Tennessee$69.74

Explore RVUs, geographic factors and the full formula

Facility

Facility calculation inputs
ComponentRVULocal GPCI
Work1.361
Practice expense0.470.909
Malpractice0.560.537

(1.36 × 1 + 0.47 × 0.909 + 0.56 × 0.537) × $33.4009 = $69.74

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.

61316 billing questions

Can 61316 be reported by itself?

No. It is an add-on code and must be billed with a primary procedure from the same operative session.

How is bone-flap storage different from cranioplasty?

61316 reports placing the removed flap beneath the skin for possible later use. Cranioplasty codes describe reconstruction or replacement of the skull defect, generally at a later operation.

What documentation supports 61316?

The operative report should identify the removed cranial flap and describe its placement in a subcutaneous pocket during the primary surgery.

How many units are reported when one flap is stored?

Report the service for the documented placement of the cranial bone flap; the operative note should make clear what was placed and where.

How does the global period affect payment?

CMS pays 61316 within the global period of the primary procedure with which it is billed.

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 61316PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv, line 6,763 (RVU26D)
Geographic factors for TennesseeGPCI2026.csv, line 95 (RVU26D)