CPT 83520

Across 489,577 services billed by 358 providers to 240,059 beneficiaries, Medicare allowed an average of $16.87 per service. That is 2.0 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.

• 83540Iron level$6.33
• 83550Iron binding capacity$8.55
• 83521Measurement of immunoglobulin light chains$16.90
• 83516Analysis of substance$11.28
• 83525Insulin measurement$11.18
• 83519Measurement of substance$18.00
• 83529Measurement of interleukin-6$16.91
• 83518Analysis of substance$9.43
• 83527Insulin measurement$12.66

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.

What doctors are paid →·Look up a clinician →·All procedure codes →