$163.23–$193.83
78579 covers ventilation imaging alone. Choose 78582 when the examination also includes perfusion imaging.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
78582 Lung scan Medicare reimbursement rates in Virginia
Reports paired lung ventilation and perfusion imaging, commonly used to evaluate suspected pulmonary embolism by comparing airflow and blood-flow patterns. Compare 78582 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 78582 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
$285.22–$337.77
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.
Nuclear medicine
About 78582: Pulmonary ventilation and perfusion scan
Reports paired lung ventilation and perfusion imaging, commonly used to evaluate suspected pulmonary embolism by comparing airflow and blood-flow patterns.
A nuclear medicine team acquires images of air distribution after the patient inhales a radiotracer and blood flow after an intravenous radiotracer. A nuclear medicine physician interprets the paired patterns, often for evaluation of suspected pulmonary embolism. The study is typically performed in a hospital or outpatient imaging department, with imaging staff handling tracer administration and acquisition.
Report 78582 when both ventilation and perfusion imaging are performed as a paired lung study; ventilation-only or perfusion-only imaging is reported with a different code. Documentation should support both portions of the examination and include the resulting interpretation. CMS recognizes professional and technical components: report modifier 26 for the interpretation, modifier TC for the equipment and staff, or no component modifier for the global service.
CMS billing rules for 78582
- 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 RVU1.04 · 12%
- Practice expense (office) RVU7.55 · 87%
- Malpractice RVU0.11 · 1%
51.7K
Medicare services in 2024 · #767 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.
78582 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Virginia, from the same CMS release.
$205.53–$243.55
78580 covers perfusion imaging alone. Choose 78582 when ventilation imaging is also performed.
$260.00–$308.38
78598 is for differential ventilation and perfusion imaging used to assess distribution quantitatively; 78582 reports the paired lung imaging study.
Compare 78582 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
$337.77
Facility
Unavailable
Virginia →
Office / nonfacility
$285.22
Facility
Unavailable
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78582 billing questions
When should 78582 be chosen over 78579 or 78580?
Use 78582 when the examination includes both ventilation and perfusion imaging. Code 78579 is for ventilation imaging alone, and 78580 is for perfusion imaging alone.
How are the professional and technical services reported?
Use modifier 26 for the physician's interpretation and modifier TC for the technical service. Without either modifier, the code represents the global service.
What documentation supports reporting 78582?
The record should show that both ventilation and perfusion images were acquired and include the physician's interpretation of the study.
Is this the same as differential lung imaging?
No. 78582 reports paired ventilation and perfusion imaging; differential codes address quantitative assessment of lung-function distribution.
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.
9,42878580,,Lung perfusion imaging,A,,0.72,5.47,,5.47,NA,0.08,6.27,6.27,1,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,12.38,12.38,0.13
9,42978580,26,Lung perfusion imaging,A,,0.72,0.25,,0.25,,0.04,1.01,1.01,1,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
9,43078580,TC,Lung perfusion imaging,A,,0.00,5.22,,5.22,NA,0.04,5.26,5.26,1,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,01,0,99,12.13,12.13,0.09
9,43178582,,Lung ventilat&perfus imaging,A,,1.04,7.55,,7.55,NA,0.11,8.70,8.70,1,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,16.84,16.84,0.18
9,43278582,26,Lung ventilat&perfus imaging,A,,1.04,0.35,,0.35,,0.06,1.45,1.45,1,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
9,43378582,TC,Lung ventilat&perfus imaging,A,,0.00,7.20,,7.20,NA,0.05,7.25,7.25,1,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,01,0,99,16.49,16.49,0.12
9,43478597,,Lung perfusion differential,A,,0.73,4.60,,4.60,NA,0.06,5.39,5.39,1,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,12.37,12.37,0.11