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CPT 21184 — Reconstruct cranial bone

CPT code 21184 (Reconstruct cranial bone) carries 37.65 work RVUs under the CMS 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. Total RVUs are 64.5 in a non-facility setting and 64.5 in a facility setting, which at the 2026 conversion factor of $33.40 works out to $2,154.36 and $2,154.36 respectively.

37.65
Work RVU
64.5
Total RVU (non-facility)
$2,154.36
Medicare, non-facility
$2,154.36
Medicare, facility
Calculate your total wRVUs →

RVU breakdown for CPT 21184

ComponentRVUsWhat it covers
Work RVU37.65Physician time, skill, effort, and stress.
Practice expense RVU (non-facility)19.84Office overhead, staff, supplies.
Practice expense RVU (facility)0.0Overhead when performed in a hospital.
Malpractice RVU7.01Professional liability cost.
Total RVU (non-facility)64.5Work + non-facility PE + malpractice.
Total RVU (facility)64.5Work + facility PE + malpractice.

How Medicare payment is calculated

Medicare multiplies total RVUs by the annual conversion factor. For CPT 21184 in 2026:

SettingTotal RVUConversion factorNational payment
Non-facility64.5$33.40$2,154.36
Facility64.5$33.40$2,154.36

These are national amounts. Actual payment is adjusted by the Geographic Practice Cost Index for your locality — check yours with the GPCI lookup.

Billing rules for CPT 21184

Global period
90-day global — major surgery; 90 days of follow-up care included.
Multiple procedure reduction
Subject to the standard multiple-procedure reduction (100%/50%/50%…).
Bilateral surgery
Bilateral adjustment does not apply.
Assistant surgeon
Permitted.
Co-surgeon
Not permitted unless documentation supports medical necessity.
Team surgery
Not permitted unless documentation supports medical necessity.

Related codes

Codes in the same CMS family, with their work RVU values.

21155 · 34.34 wRVU21159 · 42.06 wRVU21160 · 46.01 wRVU21183 · 34.81 wRVU

Questions about CPT 21184

How many work RVUs is CPT 21184?

CPT 21184 is assigned 37.65 work RVUs in the CMS 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.

What does Medicare pay for CPT 21184?

At the 2026 national conversion factor of $33.40, CPT 21184 pays approximately $2,154.36 in a non-facility setting and $2,154.36 in a facility setting before geographic adjustment.

What is the global period for CPT 21184?

90-day global — major surgery; 90 days of follow-up care included.

RVU values reflect the CMS 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (conversion factor $33.40). Payment figures are national and unadjusted for geography. Verify against the official fee schedule before using for billing.