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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01

79440 Joint radiotherapy Medicare reimbursement rates in Wisconsin

Reports radiopharmaceutical treatment delivered into a joint to treat synovial disease, such as persistent inflammatory synovitis or synovitis associated with hemophilic arthropathy. Compare 79440 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Wisconsin.

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 79440 in Wisconsin?

Wisconsin has 1 payment locality in this comparison. Use the service location to choose the applicable amount. These are the supported base rates for the payment area shown below, using the same CMS release.

Office / nonfacility

$113.95

1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.

Payment area: Wisconsin

One mapped payment locality.

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.

Find 79440 in your payment locality →

Nuclear medicine therapy

About 79440: Intra-articular radiopharmaceutical therapy

Reports radiopharmaceutical treatment delivered into a joint to treat synovial disease, such as persistent inflammatory synovitis or synovitis associated with hemophilic arthropathy.

This service delivers a therapeutic radiopharmaceutical directly into a joint to treat synovial disease, rather than using a routine medication injection. It is generally performed by a nuclear medicine or radiology physician with the joint accessed by a qualified clinician, often in a specialized outpatient or hospital setting. Examples include treatment of persistent synovitis associated with inflammatory arthritis or hemophilic arthropathy.

Select 79440 when documentation supports intra-articular delivery of a radiopharmaceutical for therapy. The record should identify the treated joint, the therapeutic purpose, and the administration performed. CMS recognizes professional and technical components: modifier 26 reports the professional interpretation, modifier TC reports the technical component, and billing without either modifier represents the global service. The technical component includes equipment and staff.

CMS billing rules for 79440

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 RVU1.94 · 55%
  • Practice expense (office) RVU1.52 · 43%
  • Malpractice RVU0.05 · 1%

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.

79440 compared with similar codes

Office rates for Wisconsin, from the same CMS release.

79445

Nuclear rx intra-arterial

No office rate

Choose 79440 for intra-articular delivery and 79445 for intra-arterial particulate administration. The administration route distinguishes these therapy codes.

79403

Nuclear therapy

Hematopoietic tumor

$151.62

79403 is for radiopharmaceutical therapy associated with non-Hodgkin lymphoma; 79440 identifies treatment delivered into a joint.

20610

Joint injection

Major joint or bursa, no ultrasound

$64.17

20610 describes aspiration and/or injection of a major joint or bursa. It is not the radiopharmaceutical therapy code for treatment delivered into a joint.

Compare 79440 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.

1 of 1 payment localities

Office and facility base rates · shared scale starting at $0

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How this local rate is calculated

Each RVU component is multiplied by its own geographic practice cost index (GPCI). The three adjusted components are added, then multiplied by the conversion factor. These are the inputs used for 79440 in Wisconsin.

PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv

9,576

Code
79440
Physician work
1.94
Practice expense
1.52
Malpractice
0.05

GPCI2026.csv

111

Locality
Wisconsin
Physician work
1.000
Practice expense
0.958
Malpractice
0.308
Office / nonfacility calculation for 79440 in Wisconsin
ComponentRVULocality factorAdjusted
Physician work1.94× 1.0001.9400
Practice expense1.52× 0.9581.4562
Malpractice0.05× 0.3080.0154
Total RVUs3.4116
Conversion factor× 33.4009

Office / nonfacility rate, Wisconsin$113.95

Explore RVUs, geographic factors and the full formula

Office / nonfacility

Office / nonfacility calculation inputs
ComponentRVULocal GPCI
Work1.941
Practice expense1.520.958
Malpractice0.050.308

(1.94 × 1 + 1.52 × 0.958 + 0.05 × 0.308) × $33.4009 = $113.95

The office and facility calculations use their respective practice-expense RVUs. The facility amount here is the physician fee, not a separate hospital or facility bill.

79440 billing questions

When should 79440 be chosen over 79445?

Use 79440 for radiopharmaceutical treatment delivered into a joint. Code 79445 describes treatment delivered by the intra-arterial route.

Does 79440 describe ordinary medication injection into a joint?

No. It is for intra-articular radiopharmaceutical therapy, such as treatment directed at diseased synovium, rather than a routine corticosteroid or anesthetic injection.

How are the professional and technical components reported?

Report modifier 26 for the professional interpretation or modifier TC for the technical component. Without either modifier, the claim represents the global service.

What documentation supports reporting 79440?

Document the joint treated, the therapeutic indication, and that a radiopharmaceutical was administered intra-articularly. The record should distinguish this treatment from an ordinary joint injection.

Does 79440 identify the specific joint or number of joints treated?

The code identifies the intra-articular radiopharmaceutical therapy, not a particular joint. Document each treated site and the service performed; do not infer a unit count from the code descriptor alone.

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.

RVUs for 79440PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv, line 9,576 (RVU26D)
Geographic factors for WisconsinGPCI2026.csv, line 111 (RVU26D)