CPT 61781

Across 7,821 services billed by 384 providers to 7,537 beneficiaries, Medicare allowed an average of $235.29 per service. 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.

• 61783Computer-assisted spinal procedure$211.81
• 61782Computer-assisted procedure outside membrane covering brain$167.85
• 61797Computer-assisted radiosurgery of simple growth of brain$222.21
• 61796Computer-assisted radiosurgery of simple growth of brain$1039.54
• 61798Computer-assisted radiosurgery of complex growth of brain$1414.29

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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