CPT 92933 covers coronary atherectomy performed with stent placement in a single major coronary artery and its branches. It sits near the top of the per-vessel hierarchy, and its errors come from billing the components it already contains.
What CPT 92933 covers
92933 is percutaneous transluminal coronary atherectomy with intracoronary stent placement, with coronary angioplasty when performed, in a single major coronary artery and/or its branch(es), as revised for 2026. Atherectomy performed without a stent in that vessel is 92924 instead.
Three services in one code for that vessel: atherectomy, stent, and angioplasty. Nothing in that list is separately reportable for the same vessel.
What changed for 92933 in 2026
92933 now reads "branch(es)", and its additional-branch add-on 92934 was deleted, so atherectomy with stenting in a branch of the same major artery is inside the one 92933 line. Charge masters and scrub rules that still add 92934 produce a rejection on every multi-branch case. The rest of the restructure is in the full 2026 PCI change list on the CPT 92928 guide.
Vessel modifiers on a 92933 claim
Report 92933 once per major coronary artery in which atherectomy and stent placement were performed, with the vessel modifier on the line. It already includes angioplasty in that artery, so 92920 and 92928 are not added for the same vessel: report the single most intensive service per vessel. Branch work in the same artery is inside the base code for 2026. See the full vessel and branch rules on the CPT 92928 guide.
Reimbursement context
2026 Medicare RVUs for CPT 92933
| CPT 92933: 2026 Medicare RVUs (national, before GPCI) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Line | Work | PE, non-facility | PE, facility | Malpractice | Total, non-facility | Total, facility |
| Global (no modifier) | 11.64 | NA | 2.20 | 2.73 | NA | 16.57 |
Source: CMS CY 2026 PFS Relative Value File, RVU26D (October release, published 08/26/2026). RVUs are national and unadjusted; commercial payers set their own rates.
In the 2026 CMS relative value file, CPT 92933 carries 11.64 work RVUs and 16.57 total RVUs. The non-facility column is NA: CMS values this procedure only for a facility setting such as a hospital. Its PC/TC indicator is 0: CMS treats it as a physician service, so modifiers 26 and TC do not apply in any setting. Its global period is 000: related work on the day of the procedure is included, with no postoperative days. Across the PCI base codes, work RVUs run from 8.14 (92920) to 15.00 (92945); 92933 sits at 11.64.
To turn RVUs into payment, each component is multiplied by your locality's geographic practice cost index, the three are added, and the sum is multiplied by the 2026 conversion factor: $33.4009, or $33.5675 for qualifying APM participants (CMS-1832-F; CMS fact sheet). The CMS Physician Fee Schedule Look-Up Tool runs that calculation for your locality.
Documentation requirements
- The vessel treated, named specifically, and every branch involved.
- The coronary segment(s) treated, per the 29-segment model CPT adopted for 2026. Segment-level detail is what separates one lesion from two, and therefore 92928 from 92930.
- Lesion location, length and percentage stenosis before and after, and the number of stents deployed.
- Devices used, including stent type, size and number.
- The clinical indication for intervention, including ischemia evidence where required by payer policy.
- Whether a diagnostic study preceded the intervention in the same session, and if so, why it was necessary and not already available.
- Contrast volume, fluoroscopy time and any complications.
- A signed procedure note naming each intervention performed per vessel.
Medicare contractor billing articles. Each Medicare Administrative Contractor publishes its own billing and coding articles for this service, and the covered diagnoses differ by jurisdiction. Active examples in the CMS Medicare Coverage Database, checked September 28, 2026: A56823 (Percutaneous Coronary Intervention, Wellpoint Federal) and A57479 (Percutaneous Coronary Interventions, WPS). Use the article from the contractor that processes your claims.
Common denials and the exact fix
Stent or angioplasty billed separately in the same vessel
92928 or 92920 next to 92933 for the same vessel duplicates work inside the code.
Fix: report 92933 alone for that vessel. It is the most intensive service and it absorbs the others.
Deleted add-on code billed for additional branches
92934 was deleted for 2026.
Fix: remove the line; branch work is inside the base code.
Atherectomy not documented as performed
Billing the atherectomy code requires the note to record the atherectomy device and its use, not merely a heavily calcified lesion.
Fix: document the device, the vessel and the result. Without it, the payable code is the stent code.
Missing or duplicated vessel modifier
Required on every PCI line.
Fix: one vessel modifier per line, no repeats.
CO-50: indication does not support intervention
Elective intervention generally needs documented ischemia or qualifying lesion severity.
Fix: include that evidence and check the applicable payer article.
Modifier rules
- LC, LD, RC, RI, LM: required on every 92933 line to identify the vessel treated. A missing vessel modifier is one of the most common PCI rejections, and two lines carrying the same vessel modifier read as a duplicate.
- 59 / XE / XP / XS / XU: for a genuinely distinct service, most often a diagnostic study that led to the decision to intervene, and only when the note supports it. Note that 92933 already includes angioplasty and the stent in that vessel, so no modifier makes 92920 or 92928 payable alongside it.
- 26 / TC: not used. CMS gives CPT 92933 a PC/TC indicator of 0 (physician service), so it is billed without a component modifier in every setting, including the hospital.
- 22: increased procedural services on 92933. Requires a narrative and goes to manual review.
- 78 / 79: a return to the procedure room during the 92933 global day, for a related complication or an unrelated procedure.
NCCI bundling edits
- 92933 with 92928 or 92920 in the same vessel: both are included in the atherectomy-with-stent code.
- Deleted add-ons including 92934: not reportable for 2026.
- Access, closure and guidance are included.
- A different major vessel treated in the same session takes its own base code and vessel modifier.
Frequently asked questions
Can I bill a stent code with 92933?
What documentation supports the atherectomy component?
Does 92933 still have an additional-branch add-on?
Sources
American Medical Association, CPT 2026 Professional Edition.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CY 2026 PFS Relative Value File RVU26D (October release): RVUs, PC/TC indicator and global period for CPT 92933.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CY 2026 Physician Fee Schedule final rule, CMS-1832-F: conversion factors.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, National Correct Coding Initiative Policy Manual for Medicare Services and quarterly procedure-to-procedure edit tables.
Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions, 2026 PCI CPT Coding Changes, and the American College of Cardiology Coding Corner overview of new CPT codes for 2026.
Medicare Coverage Database billing and coding articles A56823, A57479.
CPT® is a registered trademark of the American Medical Association. Payer policy and NCCI edits change quarterly, so check your own contractor before submission. How we verify this guidance.
Related codes
- CPT 92928. Coronary stent, one lesion, single major vessel.
- CPT 92930. Coronary stents, two or more lesions or a bifurcation.
- CPT 92941. PCI during acute MI, culprit vessel.
More cardiology code guides
- CPT 93798. Cardiac rehab session with ECG monitoring.
- CPT 93306. Complete TTE with spectral and color flow Doppler.
- CPT 93307. Complete TTE without Doppler.
- CPT 93308. Limited or follow-up echo.
Related reading
- Cardiology billing & RCM. How we scrub cardiology claims across diagnostics, cath lab, EP and remote monitoring.
- Cardiac cath billing: NCCI bundling and modifier 59. Where cath lab bundling edits bite, and when a distinct-service modifier is genuinely earned.
- TC/26 modifier errors in cardiology. The split-billing mistakes that cost diagnostic practices the most.
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