Billing code 96136: Test administrationMedicare rate & RVUs in Washington
Report this code for the first 30 minutes of a physician's or qualified health care professional's administration and scoring of two or more psychological or neuropsychological tests.
Medicare pays $45.14–$50.16 for 96136 in the office in Washington, from Rest Of Washington to Seattle (King Cnty). Which amount applies depends on the service address.
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 96136 covers
A physician or other qualified health care professional reports this service when personally administering and scoring two or more standardized psychological or neuropsychological tests. Examples include instruments assessing memory, attention, language, executive function, or personality. Psychologists and neuropsychologists commonly perform the work in outpatient offices, hospitals, and other settings where a clinical evaluation is conducted. The service is the test-taking and scoring work, not the later integration of findings into an interpretation and report.
Use 96136 for the first 30 minutes of the professional's administration and scoring time; use 96137 for additional time. The record should identify the tests, who administered and scored them, the time devoted to that work, and the clinical purpose. When a technician performs the administration and scoring, the corresponding codes are 96138 and 96139 instead. Separate psychological or neuropsychological test evaluation may be reported when the clinician also performs that distinct interpretation and reporting work.
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.
Where 96136 pays more and less in Washington
| Payment locality | Office | Facility |
|---|---|---|
| Rest Of Washington | $45.14 | $21.58 |
| Seattle (King Cnty) | $50.16 | $22.70 |
How the 96136 rate is calculated
Each of 96136’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 · 96136
RVUs × geographic indexes × conversion factor
Work0.55
0.55 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI
Practice expense0.74
0.74 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI
Malpractice0.02
0.02 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI
Adjusted RVUs
1.3100
Conversion factor
$33.4009
Medicare rate
$43.76
Every GPCI starts at 1.000, the national rate. Enter a ZIP or drag a slider.
Payment rules and modifiers for 96136
96136 has no global surgery period, no multiple-procedure, bilateral or assistant-at-surgery adjustment, and no professional/technical split. What changes the payment is where the service happens: the place of service on the claim decides whether Medicare pays the office or the facility rate.
Place of service · 96136
Which rate does Medicare pay?
The POS code on the claim line (CMS-1500 box 24B).
POS 11 · non-facility rate · national
$43.76
- Non-facility (office)
- $43.76
- Facility
- $21.38
Higher because the practice carries its own overhead.
96136 compared with similar codes
Compare codes · National
5 codes, side by side
How to choose
- 96137Test administration
- 96136 is the first 30 minutes of physician or qualified professional administration and scoring; 96137 represents additional time.
- 96138Psychological testing
- Use 96136 when the physician or qualified professional performs the test administration and scoring. Use 96138 when a technician performs it.
- 96130Psychological evaluation
- 96136 covers test administration and scoring. 96130 covers psychological test evaluation, including interpretation and reporting.
- 96146Automated testing
- 96136 describes professional-performed administration and scoring of two or more tests. 96146 is for automated test administration with an electronic result.
96136 billing questions
When should 96136 be used instead of 96137?
96136 represents the first 30 minutes of physician or qualified health care professional test administration and scoring. Report 96137 for additional time.
Does the code require more than one test?
Yes. The service covers administration and scoring of two or more psychological or neuropsychological tests; document the instruments performed.
Can 96136 be reported with a test evaluation code?
It may be reported with 96130 or 96132 when the clinician also performs the distinct interpretation, integration, and reporting work represented by the evaluation service.
What if a technician administers and scores the tests?
Use 96138 for the technician's first 30 minutes and 96139 for additional time, rather than 96136 and 96137.
What time should the record support?
Document the time spent by the physician or qualified health care professional administering and scoring the tests. Do not count interpretation and report time as administration time.
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
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