78070 Parathyroid planar imaging
What 78070 is
CMS fee schedule short descriptor: Parathyroid planar imaging.
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 78070 (CY2026)
| Work RVU | Practice expense RVU | Malpractice RVU | Total | Medicare rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-facility (office) | 0.78 | 6.95 | 0.08 | 7.81 | $260.86 |
| Facility (hospital, ASC) | 0.78 | 6.95 | 0.08 | 7.81 | $260.86 |
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.
Medically Unlikely Edit (MUE)
Medicare caps 78070 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 78070? These codes are bundled into it
78070 is a Column 1 code in 56 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|
0395T | Hdr elctr ntrst/ntrcv brchtx | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
0694T | 3d vol img&rcnstj brst/ax | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
0708T | Id ca immntx prep & 1st njx | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
0709T | Id ca immntx each addl njx | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
36000 | Place needle in vein | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
36005 | Injection ext venography | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
36410 | Vnpnxr 3yr/> phy/qhp dx/ther | 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 |
76376 | 3d render w/intrp postproces | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
76377 | 3d render w/intrp postproces | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
76942 | Echo guide for biopsy | 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 |
77750 | Infuse radioactive materials | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
77761 | Apply intrcav radiat simple | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
77762 | Apply intrcav radiat interm | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
77763 | Apply intrcav radiat compl | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
77778 | Apply interstit radiat compl | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
77789 | Apply surf ldr radionuclide | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
77790 | Radiation handling | 0 - no modifier bypass | Check pair |
78445 | Vascular flow imaging | 0 - no modifier bypass | Check pair |
78800 | Rp loclzj tum 1 area 1 d img | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
78801 | Rp loclzj tum 2+area 1+d img | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
78802 | Rp loclzj tum whbdy 1 d img | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
96360 | Hydration iv infusion init | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
96365 | Ther/proph/diag iv inf init | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
96372 | Ther/proph/diag inj sc/im | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
Showing 30 of 56 column 2 codes. Use the pair checker for any specific combination.
78070 is bundled into these codes
78070 appears as a Column 2 code in 14 active edits. Reported with one of these Column 1 codes on the same date of service, 78070 is the code that denies.
| Column 1 code | Short description | Modifier indicator | |
|---|---|---|---|
60500 | Explore parathyroid glands | 0 | Check pair |
60502 | Re-explore parathyroids | 0 | Check pair |
60505 | Explore parathyroid glands | 0 | Check pair |
77767 | Hdr rdncl skn surf brachytx | 1 | Check pair |
77768 | Hdr rdncl skn surf brachytx | 1 | Check pair |
77770 | Hdr rdncl ntrstl/icav brchtx | 1 | Check pair |
77771 | Hdr rdncl ntrstl/icav brchtx | 1 | Check pair |
77772 | Hdr rdncl ntrstl/icav brchtx | 1 | Check pair |
78071 | Parathyrd planar w/wo subtrj | 0 | Check pair |
78072 | Parathyrd planar w/spect&ct | 0 | Check pair |
78803 | Rp loclzj tum spect 1 area | 1 | Check pair |
78804 | Rp loclzj tum whbdy 2+d img | 1 | Check pair |
79005 | Nuclear rx oral admin | 0 | Check pair |
79101 | Nuclear rx iv admin | 0 | 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.