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44015 Insert needle cath bowel

What 44015 is

CMS fee schedule short descriptor: Insert needle cath bowel.

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 44015 (CY2026)

Work RVUPractice expense RVUMalpractice RVUTotalMedicare rate
Non-facility (office)2.550.620.623.79$126.59
Facility (hospital, ASC)2.550.620.623.79$126.59

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: Add-on code: global period of the primary procedure applies.

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Medically Unlikely Edit (MUE)

Medicare caps 44015 at 1 unit per date of service for practitioner claims (MAI 2 - date of service edit (absolute): units above the MUE never pay), rationale: Anatomic Consideration. Units above the cap are denied unless the edit's adjudication rules allow an appeal with documentation.

Billed with 44015? These codes are bundled into it

44015 is a Column 1 code in 6 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
36591Draw blood off venous device0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
36592Collect blood from picc0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
43752Nasal/orogastric w/tube plmt1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
44950Appendectomy0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
44970Laparoscopy appendectomy0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
96523Irrig drug delivery device0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair

44015 is bundled into these codes

44015 appears as a Column 2 code in 4 active edits. Reported with one of these Column 1 codes on the same date of service, 44015 is the code that denies.

Column 1 codeShort descriptionModifier indicator
43830Gstrst open wo constj tube0Check pair
44186Lap jejunostomy0Check pair
49000Exploration of abdomen0Check pair
49441Place duod/jej tube perc1Check 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.