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`19297` Place breast cath for rad

What 19297 is

CMS fee schedule short descriptor: Place breast cath for rad.

Full CPT long descriptions are licensed by the American Medical Association and are not published on this site; the short descriptor above is the one CMS prints in its own fee schedule file. See About CPT.

Medicare payment for 19297 (CY2026)

	Work RVU	Practice expense RVU	Malpractice RVU	Total	Medicare rate
Non-facility (office)	1.68	0.40	0.41	2.49	$83.17
Facility (hospital, ASC)	1.68	0.40	0.41	2.49	$83.17

National rates: total RVUs x the CY2026 conversion factor of 33.4009 (non-QP), before geographic adjustment. Actual Medicare payment is 80% of the rate shown after the deductible; the patient or secondary payer owes the 20% coinsurance.

Adjust for a Medicare locality:

Status: Active - payable under the Physician Fee Schedule. Global period: Add-on code: global period of the primary procedure applies.

Medically Unlikely Edit (MUE)

Medicare caps 19297 at 2 units per date of service for practitioner claims (MAI 3 - date of service edit (clinical): units above the MUE may pay with documentation on appeal), rationale: Anatomic Consideration. Units above the cap are denied unless the edit's adjudication rules allow an appeal with documentation.

Billed with 19297? These codes are bundled into it

19297 is a Column 1 code in 26 active NCCI PTP edits. When one of these Column 2 codes is reported on the same date of service, it is denied as bundled - unless the edit's modifier indicator is 1 and documentation supports a distinct service with an NCCI-associated modifier.

Column 2 code	Short description	Modifier indicator
`11000`	Dbrdmt ecz/infected skin<10%	1 - modifier may bypass	Check pair
`11001`	Dbrdmt ecz/infct skn ea addl	1 - modifier may bypass	Check pair
`11004`	Dbrdmt skin xtrnl gent&per	1 - modifier may bypass	Check pair
`11005`	Dbrdmt skin abdominal wall	1 - modifier may bypass	Check pair
`11006`	Dbrdmt skin xtrnl gent per	1 - modifier may bypass	Check pair
`11042`	Dbrdmt subq tis 1st 20sqcm/<	1 - modifier may bypass	Check pair
`11043`	Dbrdmt musc&/fsca 1st 20/<	1 - modifier may bypass	Check pair
`11044`	Dbrdmt bone 1st 20 sq cm/<	1 - modifier may bypass	Check pair
`11045`	Dbrdmt subq tiss each addl	1 - modifier may bypass	Check pair
`11046`	Dbrdmt musc&/fsca ea addl	1 - modifier may bypass	Check pair
`11047`	Dbrdmt bone each addl	1 - modifier may bypass	Check pair
`36591`	Draw blood off venous device	0 - no modifier bypass	Check pair
`36592`	Collect blood from picc	0 - no modifier bypass	Check pair
`76000`	Fluoroscopy <1 hr phys/qhp	1 - modifier may bypass	Check pair
`76380`	Cat scan follow-up study	1 - modifier may bypass	Check pair
`76942`	Echo guide for biopsy	1 - modifier may bypass	Check pair
`76965`	Echo guidance radiotherapy	1 - modifier may bypass	Check pair
`76998`	Us guide intraop	1 - modifier may bypass	Check pair
`77001`	Fluoroguide for vein device	1 - modifier may bypass	Check pair
`77002`	Needle localization by xray	1 - modifier may bypass	Check pair
`77012`	Ct scan for needle biopsy	1 - modifier may bypass	Check pair
`77021`	Mri guidance ndl plmt rs&i	1 - modifier may bypass	Check pair
`96523`	Irrig drug delivery device	0 - no modifier bypass	Check pair
`97597`	Dbrdmt opn wnd 1st 20 cm/<	1 - modifier may bypass	Check pair
`97598`	Dbrdmt opn wnd addl 20cm/<	1 - modifier may bypass	Check pair
`97602`	Wound(s) care non-selective	1 - modifier may bypass	Check pair

19297 is bundled into these codes

19297 appears as a Column 2 code in 2 active edits. Reported with one of these Column 1 codes on the same date of service, 19297 is the code that denies.

Column 1 code	Short description	Modifier indicator
`19296`	Place po breast cath for rad	1	Check pair
`19298`	Place breast rad tube/caths	1	Check pair

Data: CMS CY2026 Physician Fee Schedule RVU file (October release, RVU26D) and Medicare NCCI PTP practitioner edits v32.3 (2026 Q4). Verify against the official files before billing or contracting decisions.