CPT 36581

Across 13,806 services billed by 482 providers to 10,874 beneficiaries, Medicare allowed an average of $744.12 per service. That is 1.3 services per beneficiary, so this is a code patients typically receive more than once. The allowed amount is the figure that matters: it is what Medicare and the patient together owe, set by the fee schedule and adjusted for local practice costs. What a provider chose to submit has no bearing on it.

Two different numbers. Allowed is what Medicare actually allowed in that state, which includes the local practice-cost adjustment. Standardized strips that geographic adjustment out of the payment, so it is the column to use when comparing states — a difference there reflects how the code was billed, not what it costs to run a practice locally.

• 36556Insertion of non-tunneled central venous tube for infusion (5 years or$81.86
• 36561Insertion of central venous tube$398.30
• 36558Insertion of tunneled central venous tube for infusion (5 years or old$285.71
• 36591Collection of blood sample from implanted device$27.38
• 36589Removal of tunneled central venous tube$161.38
• 36573Insertion of tube for infusion$94.78
• 36590Removal of central venous tube$196.77
• 36514Mechanical separation of plasma from blood$92.43
• 36593Declotting of central venous tube$38.30
• 36569Insertion of tube for infusion (5 years or older)$91.24
• 36500Insertion of tube into vein$91.52
• 36522Mechanical separation of white blood cells and platelets from blood$90.95

An allowed amount is revenue to a practice, not income to a clinician. It funds staff, premises, equipment and supplies before anyone is paid. What clinicians actually earn is published separately by the Department of Labor, and what industry pays them is published separately again by CMS — this site carries both.

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