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70554 Fmri brain by tech

What 70554 is

CMS fee schedule short descriptor: Fmri brain by tech.

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 70554 (CY2026)

Work RVUPractice expense RVUMalpractice RVUTotalMedicare rate
Non-facility (office)2.069.080.1711.31$377.76
Facility (hospital, ASC)2.069.080.1711.31$377.76

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: Global concept does not apply.

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Medically Unlikely Edit (MUE)

Medicare caps 70554 at 1 unit 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: Nature of Service/Procedure. Units above the cap are denied unless the edit's adjudication rules allow an appeal with documentation.

Billed with 70554? These codes are bundled into it

70554 is a Column 1 code in 10 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
01922Anes n-invas img/radj ther0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
0889TPrsnlz trgt dvl arhfcmrigtbs0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
36591Draw blood off venous device0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
36592Collect blood from picc0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
70551Mri brain stem w/o dye1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
70557Mri brain w/o dye1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
70558Mri brain w/dye1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
70559Mri brain w/o & w/dye1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
96020Functional brain mapping1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
96523Irrig drug delivery device0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair

70554 is bundled into these codes

70554 appears as a Column 2 code in 3 active edits. Reported with one of these Column 1 codes on the same date of service, 70554 is the code that denies.

Column 1 codeShort descriptionModifier indicator
70552Mri brain stem w/dye1Check pair
70553Mri brain stem w/o & w/dye1Check pair
70555Fmri brain by phys/psych1Check 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.