CPT 72170: Pelvic X‑ray, 1–2 Views
Medicare pays $19 and commercial payers pay $66 on average nationally for this procedure.
CPT code 72170 describes a radiologic procedure obtaining one or two X‑ray images of the pelvis to evaluate for fracture, swelling, or sources of pelvic pain; this is a pelvic radiography service typically performed as a diagnostic imaging study in an outpatient radiology department or emergency department using standard anteroposterior or focused views.
For related coverage guidance, see recent payer policy updates: Lumbar Microdiscectomy, Artificial Cervical Intervertebral Disc, Lumbar Decompression.
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National Reimbursement Benchmarks
Medicare’s mean of $19.5 sits well below BUCA’s commercial average of $66.4, illustrating a substantial gap between federal reimbursement and the typical commercial market for CPT 72170. That spread highlights how much higher commercial payers are willing to reimburse on average compared with Medicare; BUCA’s mean is roughly $46.9 above Medicare’s mean, a meaningful premium for the same service.
Dispersion varies notably across payers. Blue Cross Blue Shield has one of the widest interquartile spreads (P75–P25 = $37.6), followed by UnitedHealth Group (IQR = $17.6) and Cigna (IQR = $25.9), indicating greater variability in negotiated commercial rates. Aetna shows a tighter spread (IQR = $21.0) relative to those wide ranges, while BUCA’s IQR = $30.8 sits between tight and wide. These differences reflect material variability in commercial contracting across payers.