Home › CPT Codes › CPT 85060

CPT 85060 — Blood smear interpretation

CPT code 85060 (Blood smear interpretation) carries 0.44 work RVUs under the CMS 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. Total RVUs are 0.57 in a non-facility setting and 0.57 in a facility setting, which at the 2026 conversion factor of $33.40 works out to $19.04 and $19.04 respectively.

0.44
Work RVU
0.57
Total RVU (non-facility)
$19.04
Medicare, non-facility
$19.04
Medicare, facility
Calculate your total wRVUs →

RVU breakdown for CPT 85060

ComponentRVUsWhat it covers
Work RVU0.44Physician time, skill, effort, and stress.
Practice expense RVU (non-facility)0.11Office overhead, staff, supplies.
Practice expense RVU (facility)0.0Overhead when performed in a hospital.
Malpractice RVU0.02Professional liability cost.
Total RVU (non-facility)0.57Work + non-facility PE + malpractice.
Total RVU (facility)0.57Work + facility PE + malpractice.

How Medicare payment is calculated

Medicare multiplies total RVUs by the annual conversion factor. For CPT 85060 in 2026:

SettingTotal RVUConversion factorNational payment
Non-facility0.57$33.40$19.04
Facility0.57$33.40$19.04

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 85060

Global period
Global concept does not apply to this code.
Multiple procedure reduction
No multiple-procedure payment reduction applies.
Bilateral surgery
Bilateral adjustment does not apply.
Assistant surgeon
Not permitted unless documentation supports medical necessity.
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.

85097 · 0.92 wRVU

Questions about CPT 85060

How many work RVUs is CPT 85060?

CPT 85060 is assigned 0.44 work RVUs in the CMS 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.

What does Medicare pay for CPT 85060?

At the 2026 national conversion factor of $33.40, CPT 85060 pays approximately $19.04 in a non-facility setting and $19.04 in a facility setting before geographic adjustment.

What is the global period for CPT 85060?

Global concept does not apply to this code.

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.