79005 Nuclear rx oral admin
What 79005 is
CMS fee schedule short descriptor: Nuclear rx oral admin.
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 79005 (CY2026)
| Work RVU | Practice expense RVU | Malpractice RVU | Total | Medicare rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-facility (office) | 1.76 | 2.11 | 0.09 | 3.96 | $132.27 |
| Facility (hospital, ASC) | 1.76 | 2.11 | 0.09 | 3.96 | $132.27 |
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 79005 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 79005? These codes are bundled into it
79005 is a Column 1 code in 27 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|
36591 | Draw blood off venous device | 0 - no modifier bypass | Check pair |
36592 | Collect blood from picc | 0 - no modifier bypass | Check pair |
77790 | Radiation handling | 0 - no modifier bypass | Check pair |
78012 | Thyroid uptake measurement | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
78013 | Thyroid imaging w/blood flow | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
78014 | Thyroid imaging w/blood flow | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
78015 | Thyroid met imaging | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
78016 | Thyroid met imaging/studies | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
78018 | Thyroid met imaging body | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
78070 | Parathyroid planar imaging | 0 - no modifier bypass | Check pair |
78071 | Parathyrd planar w/wo subtrj | 0 - no modifier bypass | Check pair |
78072 | Parathyrd planar w/spect&ct | 0 - no modifier bypass | Check pair |
78075 | Adrenal cortex & medulla img | 0 - no modifier bypass | Check pair |
78232 | Salivary gland function std | 0 - no modifier bypass | Check pair |
78258 | Esophageal motility | 0 - no modifier bypass | Check pair |
78262 | Gastroesophageal reflux std | 0 - no modifier bypass | Check pair |
78264 | Gastric emptying img study | 0 - no modifier bypass | Check pair |
78265 | Gstr emptg img sm bwl trnst | 0 - no modifier bypass | Check pair |
78266 | Gstr empt img sm bwl&colon | 0 - no modifier bypass | Check pair |
78267 | Urea breath tst c-14 acquisj | 0 - no modifier bypass | Check pair |
78268 | Urea breath test c-14 alys | 0 - no modifier bypass | Check pair |
78445 | Vascular flow imaging | 0 - no modifier bypass | Check pair |
78600 | Brain image < 4 views | 0 - no modifier bypass | Check pair |
78601 | Brain image w/flow < 4 views | 0 - no modifier bypass | Check pair |
78605 | Brain image 4+ views | 0 - no modifier bypass | Check pair |
78606 | Brain image w/flow 4 + views | 0 - no modifier bypass | Check pair |
96523 | Irrig drug delivery device | 0 - no modifier bypass | 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.