$212.87–$243.51
Use 78800 for one imaged area during one day; use 78801 when two or more areas are imaged that day.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
78801 Tumor imaging Medicare reimbursement rates in Texas
Reports one-day radiopharmaceutical tumor-localization imaging covering two or more areas, such as when a nuclear medicine study evaluates multiple suspected tumor sites. Compare 78801 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Texas.
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 78801 in Texas?
Texas has 8 payment localities in this comparison. Use the service location to choose the applicable amount. These are the supported base rates for the 8 payment areas shown below, using the same CMS release.
Office / nonfacility
$220.72–$252.29
8 of 8 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.
Where 78801 pays more and less in Texas
8 payment localities
$220.72 to $252.29
Nuclear medicine
About 78801: Tumor localization, multiple areas
Reports one-day radiopharmaceutical tumor-localization imaging covering two or more areas, such as when a nuclear medicine study evaluates multiple suspected tumor sites.
This nuclear medicine study uses a radioactive tracer to produce images that help locate tumor tissue in two or more areas during one day of imaging. A nuclear medicine technologist typically performs the acquisition in a hospital or imaging center, and a radiologist or nuclear medicine physician interprets the study. The selected code reflects the extent and timing of the imaging, not the number of lesions found.
Document the clinical indication, radiopharmaceutical used, areas imaged, imaging date, and interpretation. Report one service for the two-or-more-area, one-day study; the code is not selected per lesion. It is a diagnostic test with separately identifiable professional and technical components: modifier 26 reports interpretation, modifier TC reports equipment and staff, and no component modifier represents the global service. Radiopharmaceutical injection may be separately represented by 78808 when applicable.
CMS billing rules for 78801
- 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 RVU0.71 · 10%
- Practice expense (office) RVU6.40 · 89%
- Malpractice RVU0.08 · 1%
838
Medicare services in 2024 · #3105 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.
78801 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Texas, from the same CMS release.
$248.29–$283.97
78802 describes whole-body tumor localization with one-day imaging. 78801 describes two or more areas rather than a whole-body study.
$513.66–$591.10
78804 is for whole-body imaging performed over two or more days; 78801 is for two or more areas imaged in one day.
$572.29–$654.83
78831 is the SPECT study for two or more areas. Choose 78801 when the study is not reported as SPECT.
Compare 78801 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.
8 of 8 payment localities
| Payment locality | Office | Facility |
|---|---|---|
| Austin | Office $252.29 | Facility Unavailable |
| Beaumont | Office $220.72 | Facility Unavailable |
| Brazoria | Office $237.83 | Facility Unavailable |
| Dallas | Office $239.13 | Facility Unavailable |
| Fort Worth | Office $237.03 | Facility Unavailable |
| Galveston | Office $238.39 | Facility Unavailable |
| Houston | Office $239.85 | Facility Unavailable |
| Rest Of Texas | Office $228.99 | Facility Unavailable |
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78801 billing questions
When should 78801 be selected instead of 78800?
Use 78801 when tumor-localization imaging covers two or more areas in one day. Code 78800 describes one area with one-day imaging.
Does this code include radiopharmaceutical administration?
The imaging code describes the localization study. Code 78808 represents injection for a diagnostic radiopharmaceutical study and may be reported with it when applicable.
How are the professional and technical services billed?
Use modifier 26 for the interpretation and report, or modifier TC for the equipment and staff. Report the service without either modifier when billing globally.
What documentation supports reporting two or more areas?
The record should identify the areas imaged, the study date, the radiopharmaceutical, the indication, and the interpreting physician’s findings. It should support imaging of at least two areas during the one-day study.
How does 78801 differ from whole-body imaging?
78801 is for two or more areas imaged in one day. Whole-body studies use the whole-body codes, with 78804 identifying imaging over two or more days.
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.
9,51278800,,Rp loclzj tum 1 area 1 d img,A,,0.62,6.22,,6.22,NA,0.10,6.94,6.94,1,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,12.40,12.40,0.13
9,51378800,26,Rp loclzj tum 1 area 1 d img,A,,0.62,0.23,,0.23,,0.07,0.92,0.92,1,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
9,51478800,TC,Rp loclzj tum 1 area 1 d img,A,,0.00,5.99,,5.99,NA,0.03,6.02,6.02,1,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,01,0,99,12.17,12.17,0.06
9,51578801,,Rp loclzj tum 2+area 1+d img,A,,0.71,6.40,,6.40,NA,0.08,7.19,7.19,1,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,12.39,12.39,0.12
9,51678801,26,Rp loclzj tum 2+area 1+d img,A,,0.71,0.24,,0.24,,0.04,0.99,0.99,1,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
9,51778801,TC,Rp loclzj tum 2+area 1+d img,A,,0.00,6.16,,6.16,NA,0.04,6.20,6.20,1,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,01,0,99,12.15,12.15,0.08
9,51878802,,Rp loclzj tum whbdy 1 d img,A,,0.78,7.23,,7.23,NA,0.08,8.09,8.09,1,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,4,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,88,16.76,16.76,0.14