Billing code 44025: Colon incisionMedicare rate & RVUs in Utah
Reports an open incision into the colon to inspect it, obtain tissue samples, or remove a foreign body during a surgical procedure.
CMS doesn’t publish an office rate for 44025 in Utah.
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 44025 covers
This service involves surgically opening the large bowel to inspect its interior, take a biopsy, or remove a foreign body. It is generally performed by a surgeon in an operating room, often during an open abdominal procedure. The purpose is access to the colon itself for one of these specific tasks, rather than removal of a segment of diseased bowel or treatment of an obstruction by another method.
Choose the code when the operative report supports a colotomy for exploration, biopsy, or foreign body removal. Documentation should identify the colon site and explain the reason for the incision and what was done through it. The code has a 90-day global period, including the day-before preoperative visit and related postoperative care for 90 days. When multiple procedures are performed in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures are subject to the standard multiple procedure reduction. Modifier 50 is inappropriate. Assistant-at-surgery payment may be available; co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation, and team surgery is not permitted.
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.
44025 in Utah
| Payment locality | Office | Facility |
|---|---|---|
| Utah | Unavailable | $891.11 |
How the 44025 rate is calculated
Each of 44025’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 · 44025
RVUs × geographic indexes × conversion factor
Swap in your local Medicare rate.
Work 16.10Practice expense 7.50Malpractice 3.93
All indexes start at 1.000 (the national rate). Enter a ZIP or drag a slider.
Payment rules and modifiers for 44025
44025 has a 90-day global period: related visits in that window are included in the surgery payment.
CMS payment indicators · 44025
Colon incision
| Rule | CMS value | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Global period | 090 | Major surgery: the day before, the day of, and 90 days after are included. |
| Multiple procedures | 2 | Standard reduction: highest-valued procedure at 100%, others at 50%. |
| Bilateral (modifier 50) | 0 | The 150% bilateral adjustment doesn’t apply. |
| Assistant at surgery (80/81/82/AS) | 2 | Paid. |
| Co-surgeons (62) | 1 | Permitted with supporting documentation. |
| Team surgery (66) | 0 | Not permitted. |
| Professional/technical | 0 | Physician service: no professional/technical split. |
| Split (54/55/56) | 0.09/0.81/0.10 | Share of the payment for pre-op, the procedure itself, and post-op care. |
Global surgery period · 44025
Colon incision
90-day global period ends
Dec 30, 2026
Covers Sep 30, 2026 through Dec 30, 2026 (92 days, including the day before surgery).
Visit on Oct 31, 2026
Day 30 of the 90-day post-op period: related follow-up care is included in the surgical payment.
Pre-op dayGlobal period
What modifiers do to the payment
Modifier 51 · payment effect
With and without the modifier
44025 without 51 · national facility
$919.53
Colon incision
44025-51 · Second procedure: 50%
$459.77
When this isn’t the highest-valued procedure in the session, Medicare pays 50% of its fee schedule amount (the highest is paid at 100%).
44025 compared with similar codes
Compare codes
44025 vs 44020 vs 44010 vs 45380 vs 44140: national Medicare rates
Swap in your local Medicare rate.
How to choose
- 44020Small-bowel exploration
- Use 44025 for an incision into the colon and 44020 for the comparable exploration, biopsy, or foreign body service in the small intestine.
- 44010Duodenotomy
- 44010 addresses an incision of the small bowel for decompression. This code concerns the colon and supports exploration, biopsy, or foreign body removal.
- 45380Colonoscopy with biopsy
- 45380 is a colonoscopic biopsy service. This code describes a surgical incision into the colon rather than tissue sampling through an endoscope.
- 44140Partial colectomy
- 44140 involves partial removal of the colon. Use this code when the service is a colotomy for exploration, biopsy, or foreign body removal rather than bowel resection.
44025 billing questions
How is this different from an incision of the small bowel?
This code is for an incision into the colon. Use the small-bowel incision code when the operative site is the small intestine.
Can the incision be reported separately with a colectomy?
The code describes an incision for exploration, biopsy, or foreign body removal, not the access incision for a bowel resection. Review the operative report to determine whether a distinct colotomy service was performed.
Is modifier 50 appropriate when the colon is involved on both sides?
No. The CMS bilateral adjustment does not apply, and modifier 50 is inappropriate for this code.
What documentation supports reporting this code?
The operative report should identify the colon site, the reason for opening the bowel, and whether the surgeon explored it, obtained a biopsy, or removed a foreign body.
What is included in the global period?
The 90-day global period includes the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care.
Can an assistant or co-surgeon be reported?
Assistant-at-surgery payment may be available. Co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation; team surgery is 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 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
Fee sheets
Put 44025 and the rest of your codes on one sheet
Build a fee sheet from your own code list at your locality, put your payer contracts beside Medicare, and see what changed each quarter.
Build my fee sheetOr price your code list free →