No office rate
Use 36522 when collected cells receive the photosensitizer-and-UVA treatment before reinfusion. Code 36511 describes white blood cell apheresis without that photopheresis process.
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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
36522 Photopheresis Medicare reimbursement rates in Virginia
Reports extracorporeal photopheresis, in which collected white blood cells are treated with a photosensitizing agent and ultraviolet light before reinfusion. Compare 36522 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Virginia.
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 36522 in Virginia?
Virginia 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
$1339.03–$1597.57
2 of 2 localities have a supported rate.
Facility setting
$76.60–$84.71
2 of 2 localities have a 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.
Apheresis
About 36522: Extracorporeal photopheresis treatment
Reports extracorporeal photopheresis, in which collected white blood cells are treated with a photosensitizing agent and ultraviolet light before reinfusion.
Extracorporeal photopheresis collects a patient’s white blood cells, exposes them outside the body to a photosensitizing agent and UVA light, and returns the treated cells. Apheresis staff typically perform the treatment in a hospital outpatient department or specialized apheresis unit under physician oversight. Common clinical settings include treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma and graft-versus-host disease.
Report 36522 for the photopheresis treatment, not separately for its collection, cell-treatment, and reinfusion steps. Documentation should identify the treatment performed and support that the cells underwent the photopheresis process. The code has a 0-day global period, so same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included. When multiple procedures are performed in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures are subject to the 50% multiple-procedure reduction. Modifier 50 is inappropriate. Medicare does not pay an assistant at surgery for this service, and co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.
CMS billing rules for 36522
- Global period
- Minor procedure with a 0-day global period: same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included.
- Multiple procedures
- Standard multiple procedure reduction: the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and others at 50% when performed in the same session.
- Bilateral procedures
- Bilateral adjustment does not apply; the descriptor or anatomy makes modifier 50 inappropriate.
- Assistant at surgery
- Statutory restriction: assistant at surgery is not paid.
- Co-surgeons
- Co-surgeons not permitted.
- Team surgery
- Team surgery not permitted.
Where the value comes from
- Work RVU1.71 · 4%
- Practice expense (office) RVU38.95 · 95%
- Malpractice RVU0.13 · 0%
5.6K
Medicare services in 2024 · #1803 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.
36522 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Virginia, from the same CMS release.
$701.82–$833.98
Code 36514 describes plasma apheresis. It does not represent treating collected white blood cells with UVA light and returning them.
$2,187.59–$2,617.34
Code 36516 is for selective immunoadsorption apheresis. Photopheresis uses a different cell-treatment process involving a photosensitizing agent and UVA exposure.
Compare 36522 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
Dc + Md/Va Suburbs →
Office / nonfacility
$1597.57
Facility
$84.71
Virginia →
Office / nonfacility
$1339.03
Facility
$76.60
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36522 billing questions
How is photopheresis different from white blood cell apheresis?
Photopheresis includes treatment of the collected cells with a photosensitizing agent and UVA light before they are returned. White blood cell apheresis alone does not describe that treatment process.
Can the collection and reinfusion steps be billed separately?
Do not separately report the collection, cell treatment, or reinfusion steps that make up the photopheresis treatment.
Should modifier 50 be used for treatment of both sides?
No. Bilateral adjustment does not apply to 36522, and modifier 50 is inappropriate.
What documentation supports reporting 36522?
Document the photopheresis treatment performed, including collection and treatment of the cells before reinfusion. The record should distinguish this service from apheresis that only collects or removes a blood component.
How does the multiple-procedure rule affect 36522?
When other procedures are performed in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and the other procedures are subject to the 50% multiple-procedure reduction.
Can an assistant, co-surgeon, or surgical team be reported?
Medicare does not pay an assistant at surgery for 36522. Co-surgeons and team surgery are 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 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.
4,50036513,,Apheresis platelets,A,,1.95,0.53,NA,0.53,,0.16,2.64,2.64,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
4,50136514,,Apheresis plasma,A,,1.76,19.47,,0.42,,0.16,21.39,2.34,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
4,50236516,,Apheresis immunoads slctv,A,,1.52,64.83,,0.36,,0.35,66.70,2.23,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
4,50336522,,Photopheresis,A,,1.71,38.95,,0.50,,0.13,40.79,2.34,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
4,50436555,,Insert non-tunnel cv cath,A,,1.88,4.35,,0.33,,0.16,6.39,2.37,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
4,50536556,,Insert non-tunnel cv cath,A,,1.71,5.18,,0.38,,0.23,7.12,2.32,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
4,50636557,,Insert tunneled cv cath,A,,4.77,31.74,,3.18,,1.28,37.79,9.23,0,010,0.10,0.80,0.10,2,1,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00