CPT code 93288 – Pacemaker interrogation device evaluation

Key takeaways

CPT code 93288 covers an in-person interrogation of a single, dual, multiple lead or leadless pacemaker, with analysis, review and report.

ICDs go to 93289 and subcutaneous loop recorders go to 93291, so confirm the device from the implant record before you code.

Programming is never bundled into 93288. When settings change, bill 93279-93281 and leave 93288 off that date.

In 2026, 93288 carries 0.42 work RVUs and pays about $55 nationally before locality adjustment.

Remote pacemaker monitoring is billed with 93294 and 93296, and each covers a period of up to 90 days.

CPT code 93288 is the in-person pacemaker check

CPT code 93288 reports an in-person interrogation of an implanted pacemaker. The clinician reads the device, reviews the data and signs a report. The American Medical Association descriptor packs four elements into one line, so here it is in parts.

• Service: interrogation device evaluation, in person.
• Professional work: analysis, review and report by a physician or other qualified health care professional.
• Included steps: connection, recording and disconnection, per patient encounter.
• Devices: single, dual, or multiple lead pacemaker system, or leadless pacemaker system.

Leadless pacemakers joined the descriptor in CPT 2019. Programming is not part of the code. If settings change, the visit becomes a programming evaluation, which has its own codes.

The device in the chest decides the code. Check it against this table before you build the claim.

What happens during a 93288 check

An in-person pacemaker check follows a steady sequence. Here is how a routine visit runs from start to finish.

1. Connect to the device, then confirm the model and serial number against the implant record.
2. Record battery status and the estimated longevity of the pulse generator.
3. Measure impedance, sensing and capture thresholds for each lead, or for the electrode on a leadless device.
4. Review programmed settings such as mode, lower rate and output, without changing them.
5. Pull stored events, including arrhythmia episodes and saved electrograms.
6. Disconnect, then write and sign the interpretation.

Those six steps are the whole service. Notice what the list leaves out, which is any change to a setting.

Suppose the clinician adjusts output, rate or mode to find better values. That work is a programming evaluation, reported with 93279, 93280 or 93281 by lead configuration. In that case, 93288 is not reported for the same date.

Interrogation or programming, never both on one date

The word “iterative” separates the two code sets. The programming descriptors describe iterative adjustment of the device to test its function and select the best permanent values. Interrogation only reads the device and reports on it.

Here is a quick example. A patient with a dual-chamber pacemaker arrives for a routine check. The atrial capture threshold has risen, so the clinician raises the output and retests until capture is stable. That visit is a dual-lead programming evaluation, 93280, and 93288 stays off the claim.

Both questions fit on one chart. Work through it in order, and each answer points to a single in-person code.

93288 vs 93289: The device decides

93288 is for pacemakers. 93289 is for transvenous defibrillators, CRT-D included, and it adds analysis of heart rhythm derived data. A device that can deliver a shock goes to 93289, however many leads it has.

The fix is the same each time. Take the device type from the implant record or the manufacturer card, not from memory or the visit reason.

Where 93288 sits in the device code family

93288 belongs to the CPT range for implantable, insertable and wearable cardiac device evaluations, 93260-93299. These are the neighbors you will meet on pacemaker claims and the devices around them.

Before you submit a 93288 claim

Run through this list before you release the claim. Each line answers a question a reviewer is likely to ask.

• The implant record names the manufacturer, model and serial number.
• The device is a pacemaker, leadless included, and not an ICD, loop recorder or physiologic monitor.
• The note shows an in-person visit, with the date, location and treating clinician.
• Battery, lead or electrode values, sensing, capture and stored events are each recorded.
• No settings were changed. If they were, the claim carries 93279-93281 instead.
• A physician or other qualified health care professional signed and dated the interpretation.
• The diagnosis code explains why the pacemaker was checked.

A superbill that captures device details at the visit saves a round of chart requests later. It also gives your clean claim review something concrete to check against.

Frequency limits come from your Medicare Administrative Contractor and each commercial plan, not from the CPT descriptor. Check the active policy before an extra check, and record the clinical reason. Good medical billing compliance habits make that note routine.

Modifiers for CPT code 93288

93288 has a professional and a technical component on the Medicare fee schedule. Who supplies the equipment and staff decides how you bill it.

• No modifier: bill the global code when your practice provides both the technical work and the interpretation.
• Modifier 26: bill the professional component when you interpret in a facility that supplies the equipment and staff.
• Modifier TC: the entity that supplies the equipment and technical staff bills this component, without the interpretation.
• Modifier 59: use it only when 93288 and another cardiac service on the same date are distinct and documented. It never unbundles a same-date programming evaluation of the same device.
• GQ or GT: these telehealth modifiers do not fit 93288, because the descriptor requires an in-person visit.

Never append 26 and TC to the same line. If one provider does both parts, the global code is the right claim.

What Medicare pays for 93288 in 2026

Medicare pays 93288 under the CMS Physician Fee Schedule. The figures below use the 2026 national RVUs and the $33.4009 conversion factor. Your locality adjustment moves them up or down.

RVUs are from the CMS 2026 national relative value file, as listed by FastRVU. Confirm your locality rate in the CMS look-up tool before you load expected payments. Commercial plans set their own rates, so compare each contract separately.

ICD-10 codes that support a 93288 check

The diagnosis should say why the pacemaker was checked. These ICD-10-CM codes fit common routine and problem-focused visits.

Common mistakes that send 93288 back

These errors come up again and again on pacemaker check claims. Each one has a simple guard.

• Wrong device code: an ICD or loop recorder check billed as 93288. Match the code to the implant record.
• Programming on the same date: 93288 reported with 93279-93281. If settings changed, keep only the programming code.
• Unsigned report: the claim goes out before the interpretation is signed. Hold it until the report is complete.
• Defibrillator diagnosis: Z45.02 paired with 93288. That code describes an ICD, so the claim contradicts itself.
• Global billing in a facility: the hospital supplied the equipment and staff. Bill modifier 26 instead.
• Missing device details: no model or serial number in the note. Record both at every check.

Log each rejection by reason as part of your denial management routine. Repeat patterns then surface early, while they are still cheap to fix.

How 93288 fits with remote monitoring

Many pacemaker patients also send transmissions from home. Those checks are billed with remote codes, never with 93288.

• 93294: remote interrogation, professional work, for a pacemaker with leadless included, up to 90 days.
• 93296: remote interrogation, technical service, for a pacemaker with leadless included, or an ICD, up to 90 days.
• 93297 and 93298: remote monitoring of physiologic monitors and loop recorders, up to 30 days each.

Report each 90-day code once per period. CPT also bars 93294 when the monitoring period is shorter than 30 days.

An in-person check can fall inside an open remote period. Before you bill both, check the CPT parenthetical notes and current NCCI edits for those dates. Your electronic remittance advice then shows how each payer handled the pair.

How Pabau keeps 93288 claims moving after the visit

Once the visit is coded, the work shifts to getting paid. That means sending the claim, watching its status and matching what the payer returns.

Pabau, our practice and billing software, handles that stretch for US practices through its Claim.MD integration. You submit 93288 claims electronically from the patient record. Claim status and remittances then come back to the same place.

Your billing team sees which claims were accepted, which were paid and which need follow-up. Nobody has to log in to a separate portal to chase each one. See how claims management in Pabau works.

Track cardiac device claims to payment

Pabau submits 93288 and related device claims electronically through Claim.MD. Claim status and remittances come back to one place, so your team spends less time chasing payers.

Book a demo

Conclusion

Two questions settle the code on a pacemaker check. Is the device a pacemaker, and did anyone change a setting? Answer both from the implant record and the visit note, and 93288 either fits or it does not.

Build those two checks into intake instead of leaving them to the coder. It costs a minute at check-in and spares you a rejected claim and a chart request later. Book a demo to see how Pabau submits and tracks your cardiac device claims.

Continue your research

Need to understand clearinghouse claim submission for cardiac codes? Pabau’s Claim.MD clearinghouse guide explains how electronic claim submission works for cardiology and specialty practices.

Seeing denial codes on your remittance you don’t recognize? Denial codes in medical billing covers the most common CARC and RARC codes returned on cardiac device claim rejections.

Want to build a cleaner billing process across your practice? Revenue cycle management fundamentals walks through the end-to-end workflow from charge capture to payment posting.

Changing settings at the check instead? CPT code 93280 covers the programming evaluation of a dual-lead pacemaker, the code that replaces 93288 on that date.

Billing remote loop recorder transmissions? CPT code 93298 explains remote monitoring of subcutaneous rhythm monitors and its 30-day period.

Frequently asked questions