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29840 Wrist arthroscopy

What 29840 is

CMS fee schedule short descriptor: Wrist arthroscopy.

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 29840 (CY2026)

Work RVUPractice expense RVUMalpractice RVUTotalMedicare rate
Non-facility (office)5.546.481.1913.21$441.23
Facility (hospital, ASC)5.546.481.1913.21$441.23

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.


Status: Active - payable under the Physician Fee Schedule. Global period: 90-day global period.

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Medically Unlikely Edit (MUE)

Medicare caps 29840 at 1 unit per date of service for practitioner claims (MAI 2 - date of service edit (absolute): units above the MUE never pay), rationale: CMS Policy. Units above the cap are denied unless the edit's adjudication rules allow an appeal with documentation.

Billed with 29840? These codes are bundled into it

29840 is a Column 1 code in 239 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 codeShort descriptionModifier indicator
0213TNjx paravert w/us cer/thor0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
0216TNjx paravert w/us lumb/sac0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
0566TAutol cell implt adps njx1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
0596TTemp fml iu vlv-pmp 1st insj1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
0597TTemp fml iu valve-pmp rplcmt1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
0708TId ca immntx prep & 1st njx1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
0709TId ca immntx each addl njx1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
0903TEcg alg 12 lead reduced i&r1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
0904TEcg alg 12 ld rdcd trcg only1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
0905TEcg alg 12 ld rdcd i&r only1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
10005Fna bx w/us gdn 1st les1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
10007Fna bx w/fluor gdn 1st les1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
10009Fna bx w/ct gdn 1st les1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
10011Fna bx w/mr gdn 1st les1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
10021Fna bx w/o img gdn 1st les1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
11012Deb skin bone at fx site1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
12001Rpr s/n/ax/gen/trnk 2.5cm/<1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
12002Rpr s/n/ax/gen/trnk2.6-7.5cm1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
12004Rpr s/n/ax/gen/trk7.6-12.5cm1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
12005Rpr s/n/a/gen/trk12.6-20.0cm1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
12006Rpr s/n/a/gen/trk20.1-30.0cm1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
12007Rpr s/n/ax/gen/trnk >30.0 cm1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
12011Rpr f/e/e/n/l/m 2.5 cm/<1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
12013Rpr f/e/e/n/l/m 2.6-5.0 cm1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
12014Rpr f/e/e/n/l/m 5.1-7.5 cm1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
12015Rpr f/e/e/n/l/m 7.6-12.5 cm1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
12016Rpr fe/e/en/l/m 12.6-20.0 cm1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
12017Rpr fe/e/en/l/m 20.1-30.0 cm1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
12018Rpr f/e/e/n/l/m >30.0 cm1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
12020Tx supfc wnd dehsn smpl clsr1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair

Showing 30 of 239 column 2 codes. Use the pair checker for any specific combination.

29840 is bundled into these codes

29840 appears as a Column 2 code in 10 active edits. Reported with one of these Column 1 codes on the same date of service, 29840 is the code that denies.

Column 1 codeShort descriptionModifier indicator
0707TNjx b1 sub mtrl sbchdrl dfct1Check pair
0869TNjx b1 sub mtrl hw fixj aug1Check pair
11010Debride skin at fx site1Check pair
11011Debride skin musc at fx site1Check pair
29843Wrist arthroscopy/surgery1Check pair
29844Wrist arthroscopy/surgery1Check pair
29845Wrist arthroscopy/surgery1Check pair
29846Wrist arthroscopy/surgery1Check pair
29847Wrist arthroscopy/surgery1Check pair
29848Wrist endoscopy/surgery1Check 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.