Common office procedures

17003 - RVUs & Medicare payment (2026)

Destruction of premalignant lesions, 2-14, each.

Component	Non-facility	Facility
Work RVU	0.04	0.04
Practice expense RVU	0.15	0.01
Malpractice RVU	0.00	0.00
Total RVUs	0.19	0.05
National payment (CF $33.4009)	$6.35	$1.67
Qualifying APM payment (CF $33.5675)	$6.38	$1.68

How 17003 payment varies by locality

Medicare adjusts payment with geographic practice cost indices, so the same code pays differently across the 109 fee schedule localities. In 2026, non-facility payment for 17003 ranges from $5.64 in Arkansas (AR) to $8.71 in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (CA); calculate 17003 for your locality.

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (CA) $8.71 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (CA) $8.71 San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley (CA) $8.53 San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley (CA) $8.53 Napa (CA) $8.02 Vallejo (CA) $8.02 Seattle (WA) $7.55 Santa Rosa-Petaluma (CA) $7.53 National average $6.35 … 97 more localities between … West Virginia (WV) $5.69 Rest Of Missouri (MO) $5.65 Mississippi (MS) $5.65 Arkansas (AR) $5.64

Non-facility payment for 17003 in the 2026 fee schedule ($33.4009 conversion factor), before sequestration. Gray bar = national average.

Global period: ZZZ

Add-on code: billed with a primary service and covered by the primary service’s global period.

Related codes - common office procedures

10060 · incision and drainage of abscess, simple
11102 · skin biopsy, tangential, first lesion
11104 · skin biopsy, punch, first lesion
11200 · removal of skin tags, up to 15
11730 · nail plate avulsion, partial or complete, first
11042 · debridement, subcutaneous tissue, first 20 sq cm
12001 · simple wound repair, scalp/trunk/extremities, 2.5 cm or less
17000 · destruction of premalignant lesion, first
17110 · destruction of benign lesions, up to 14
20610 · aspiration or injection of major joint (knee, shoulder, hip)
20552 · trigger point injection, 1-2 muscles
69210 · removal of impacted earwax, unilateral

Frequently asked questions

How much does Medicare pay for 17003 in 2026?

The national non-facility payment is $6.35 and the facility payment is $1.67, using the standard $33.4009 conversion factor. Actual amounts vary by Medicare locality; use the RVU calculator for your area.

What is the work RVU for 17003?

The 2026 work RVU for 17003 is 0.04. Total RVUs are 0.19 in the non-facility setting and 0.05 in the facility setting.

Why are the facility and non-facility amounts different?

Only the practice expense component changes by setting. In an office (non-facility) the practice bears the overhead, so the PE RVU is higher; in a hospital or ASC the facility bills its own overhead separately.

Source: CMS Physician Fee Schedule relative value file (rvu26c.zip, retrieved 2026-07-11). Service description is an original plain-English summary, not CPT descriptor text. CPT® is a registered trademark of the American Medical Association. Amounts are estimates before sequestration and claim-level adjustments.