Home / Medicare fees / 88333

88333 Path consltj surg cyto xm 1

What 88333 is

CMS fee schedule short descriptor: Path consltj surg cyto xm 1.

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 88333 (CY2026)

Work RVUPractice expense RVUMalpractice RVUTotalMedicare rate
Non-facility (office)1.171.440.032.64$88.18
Facility (hospital, ASC)1.171.440.032.64$88.18

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.

Advertisement

Medically Unlikely Edit (MUE)

Medicare caps 88333 at 4 units 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: Clinical: Data. Units above the cap are denied unless the edit's adjudication rules allow an appeal with documentation.

Billed with 88333? These codes are bundled into it

88333 is a Column 1 code in 7 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
88160Cytopath smear other source1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
88161Cytopath smear other source1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
88162Cytopath smear other source1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
88172Cytp dx eval fna 1st ea site1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
88329Path consltj drg surg1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
88387Macroscopic xm dsj&prep tiss1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
96523Irrig drug delivery device0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair

88333 is bundled into these codes

88333 appears as a Column 2 code in 3 active edits. Reported with one of these Column 1 codes on the same date of service, 88333 is the code that denies.

Column 1 codeShort descriptionModifier indicator
88173Cytopath eval fna report1Check pair
88331Path consltj surg 1 blk 1spc1Check pair
88332Path consltj surg ea add blk1Check 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.