CPT 93228: External Mobile Cardiac Telemetry Interpretation

Medicare pays $26 and commercial payers pay $39 on average nationally for this procedure.

CPT code 93228 describes physician or qualified provider review and interpretation of continuously recorded and transmitted electrocardiographic data (external mobile cardiac telemetry) to detect abnormal heart rates and rhythms; service type: monitoring and interpretation of ambulatory ECG telemetry; typical site of service: outpatient or remote monitoring setting with data transmitted to a surveillance center or clinician for review and reporting of findings.

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National Reimbursement Benchmarks

Across national payers, Medicare's mean allowed rate of $25.8 sits well below BUCA’s mean commercial benchmark of $38.6, indicating a substantial gap between public and that commercial average for CPT 93228. The difference of $12.8 highlights how Medicare reimbursement is materially lower than a commercial aggregator’s mean, which can influence overall revenue mix when payer mix skews public.

Examining dispersion using the interquartile range (P75 minus P25), UnitedHealth Group and Cigna show the widest IQRs at $25.9 and $27.1 respectively (UnitedHealth Group: $54.9 - $28.9 = $26.0 rounded to $25.9? use exact: $54.9-$28.9=$26.0; Cigna: $56.2-$28.1=$28.1 — however only use provided values), while Blue Cross Blue Shield is tighter with an IQR of $13.4 ($39.6 - $26.6). Aetna’s IQR is $22.0 and BUCA’s IQR is $19.1; Medicare’s interquartile spread is compressed at $1 ($26 - $25). These ranges reflect varying consistency in commercial contracting versus relatively uniform Medicare localities.

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CPT 93228: External Mobile Cardiac Telemetry Interpretation

Medicare pays $26 and commercial payers pay $39 on average nationally for this procedure.

Customize your policy alerts

Sign up for cpt 93228 policy alerts

Get alerted when payer policies referencing 93228 are released or updated.

Monitor payer policy activity

Receive email alerts as soon as relevant payer policies are published or updated.

National Reimbursement Benchmarks

National Payer Mean Reimbursement Rates

Clinical & Coding Specifications

Clinical Context

A 64-year-old patient with intermittent palpitations and episodes of lightheadedness is referred by a cardiology clinic for continuous ambulatory ECG monitoring using external mobile telemetry. The patient receives a chest-applied recording device that continuously records and transmits ECG data to a remote surveillance center for physician review. Over a 7–30 day monitoring period the telemetry system captures symptomatic and asymptomatic arrhythmias, transmits triggered events and auto-detected alerts, and stores retrievable ECG segments. The ordering cardiologist or electrophysiologist reviews the transmitted continuous recordings, interprets rhythm strips and summary reports, documents findings in the medical record, and issues a formal interpretation report and management recommendations.

Typical workflow:

Referral and order placed by a cardiologist or primary care provider, including indication such as R00.2 (palpitations) or I48.91 (unspecified atrial fibrillation).
Device setup: patient receives device and instructions; technical support may provide remote setup and connection verification.
Monitoring phase: continuous ECG recording and near–real-time transmission of abnormal rhythm alerts to an attended surveillance center; events are stored for retrieval.
Interpretation: the physician reviews transmitted data and computer-generated summaries, interprets clinically significant rhythms, documents findings, and generates a report for the referring provider.
Billing: the physician reports the professional interpretation and report for continuous ambulatory ECG monitoring using 93228 for the interpretation of continuous transmitted data.

Related CPT Codes

CPT Code	Description	Relationship to This Procedure
`93229`	External mobile cardiovascular telemetry with electrocardiographic recording, concurrent computerized real time data analysis and greater than 24 hours of accessible ECG data storage (retrievable with query) with ECG triggered and patient selected events transmitted to a remote attended surveillance center for up to 30 days; technical support for connection and patient instructions for use, attended surveillance, analysis and transmission of daily and emergent data reports as prescribed by a physician or other qualified health care professional	Often billed for the technical services, device management, and attended surveillance portion of continuous mobile telemetry that complements the physician interpretation billed with `93228`.
`93268`	External patient-activated and, when performed, auto-activated electrocardiographic rhythm derived event recording (Event monitor) may be worn for up to 30 days	Represents an alternative ambulatory monitoring modality (event monitor) used when intermittent patient-activated recordings are appropriate; may be used before or instead of continuous telemetry depending on clinical indication.

Related Modifiers

7 rows

Modifier	Description	When to Use
26	Modifier 26 (Professional Component) identifies and bills only the professional portion of a split service — the physician’s interpretation, report, and medical judgment — when the technical…	- Use CPT Modifier -26 when you are billing only the professional component (PC) of a split‑bill eligible service—i.e., you performed the physician interpretation, medical judgment and prepared a…
95	Modifier 95 indicates that a service was provided via synchronous, real‑time audio‑video telehealth rather than in‑person. Per CMS, AAPC and professional associations, append modifier 95 to claim…	- Use modifier 95 to indicate a service was furnished via synchronous, real‑time audiovisual telehealth (a live audio‑video conference between patient and provider) rather than in‑person. - Pair…
59	Modifier 59 indicates a distinct procedural service when two procedures that are not normally billed together are clinically and procedurally separate. The CPT definition (as reiterated by CMS)…	- Use modifier -59 to report a distinct procedural service when documentation supports that the procedure reported is not normally billed together with another service on the same day because of a…
52	Modifier ‑52 (Reduced Services) indicates that a service or procedure was partially reduced or omitted at the provider’s discretion, allowing reporting of the basic procedure number with a qualifier…	- Use modifier -52 when a physician or qualified health professional electively reduces or omits part of a procedure or service (for example, performing fewer required views or omitting a portion of…
53	Modifier 53 (Discontinued Procedure) signals that a surgical or diagnostic service was begun by the physician but terminated because of extenuating circumstances that threatened the patient’s…	- Use modifier -53 when a physician/qualified healthcare professional has started a surgical or diagnostic procedure (e.g., anesthesia administered, incision or scope insertion) and then discontinues…
77	Modifier 77 indicates that a previously performed procedure or service was legitimately repeated by a different physician or other qualified health care professional. The AMA’s CPT definition…	- Use modifier 77 when a basic procedure or service already performed is repeated by a different physician or other qualified health care professional (for example, a second provider independently…
78	CPT modifier -78 indicates an unplanned, related return to the operating or procedure room by the same provider during the global postoperative period. It is appended when treatment for a…	- Use modifier -78 when an unplanned, related complication during the original procedure’s global postoperative period requires the patient to return to a formal operating or procedure room and the…

Related Provider Taxonomies

8 rows

Taxonomy Code	Specialty	Notes
207RC0000X	Cardiovascular Disease Physician	An internist who specializes in diseases of the heart and blood vessels and manages complex cardiac conditions such as heart attacks and life-threaten…
261QC1800X	Corporate Health Clinic/Center	Ambulatory Health Care Facilities · Clinic/Center
207T00000X	Neurological Surgery Physician	A neurological surgeon provides the operative and non-operative management (i.e., prevention, diagnosis, evaluation, treatment, critical care, and reh…
2086H0002X	Hospice and Palliative Medicine (Surgery) Physician	A surgeon with special knowledge and skills to prevent and relieve the suffering experienced by patients with life-limiting illnesses. This specialist…
2080P0201X	Pediatric Allergy/Immunology Physician	A pediatrician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of allergies, allergic reactions, and immunologic diseases in children.
2471M2300X	Mammography Radiologic Technologist	A radiologic technologist who specializes in mammography and is appropriately educated and trained, consistent with nationally recognized standards, s…
2086P0122X	Physician Nutrition Specialist (Surgery)	A physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of primary nutritional diseases (e.g., undernutrition, overnutrition, and genetic or acquir…
207ZP0101X	Anatomic Pathology Physician	A pathologist deals with the causes and nature of disease and contributes to diagnosis, prognosis and treatment through knowledge gained by the labora…

Related Payer Policy Updates

Specialty: Cardiology1 / 3

10 rows

Policy	Payer	Effective Date
Cardiac Computed Tomography (CCT)/Coronary Computed Tomographic Angiography (CCTA)	univerahealthcare	2026-10-15
Cardiovascular Disease Risk Assessment	Oscar Health	2026-10-01
Biomarkers for Myocardial Infarction and Chronic Heart Failure	Oscar Health	2026-10-01
Multiple Procedure Payment Reduction for Diagnostic Cardiovascular Procedures	Blue Cross Blue Shield - Maine	2026-10-01
Cardiovascular Disease Risk Assessment	blue cross blue shield - louisiana	2026-09-15
Cardiovascular Disease Risk Assessment	Blue Cross Blue Shield - New Mexico	2026-09-04
Computed Tomography to Detect Coronary Artery Calcification	Bluecross Idaho	2026-09-01
Intracoronary Drug Delivery Balloon Procedures	Blue Cross Blue Shield - Rhode Island	2026-09-01
Cardiac Imaging Guidelines	evicore	2026-09-01
Percutaneous Left Atrial Appendage Closure Device for Stroke Prevention	Ambetter Georgia	2026-08-26

CPT 93224: Ambulatory ECG Recorder Application and Interpretation, Up to 48 Hours

CPT-93225-AMBULATORY-ECG-RECORDING-UP-TO-48-HOURS

CPT 93225: ECG Recorder Application for Up to 48 Hours Recording Only

CPT-93226-AMBULATORY-ECG-SCANNING-ANALYSIS-REPORT-UP-TO-48-HOURS

CPT 93226: ECG Recorder Scanning Analysis and Report, Up to 48 Hours

CPT-93227-48-HOUR-EXTERNAL-ECG-RECORDER-INTERPRETATION

CPT 93227: 48‑Hour Ambulatory ECG Recorder Review and Interpretation

CPT-93229-WEARABLE-ECG-MONITOR-PLACEMENT-AND-MONITORING

CPT 93229: Wearable Electrocardiographic Monitor Placement and Monitoring

CPT-93241-EXTENDED-AMBULATORY-ECG-MONITORING-48-HOURS-TO-7-DAYS

CPT 93241: Ambulatory ECG Monitoring >48 Hours up to 7 Days

CPT-93242-AMBULATORY-ECG-MONITORING-48-HOURS-TO-7-DAYS

CPT 93242: Ambulatory ECG Recorder Worn >48 Hours to 7 Days

CPT-93243-ECG-RECORDER-SCANNING-ANALYSIS-48-HOURS-TO-7-DAYS

CPT 93243: ECG Recorder Monitoring >48 Hours to 7 Days

CPT-93244-ECG-RECORDER-48-HOURS-UP-TO-7-DAYS-INTERPRETATION

CPT 93244: ECG Recorder >48 Hours to 7 Days Interpretation

CPT-93245-EXTENDED-AMBULATORY-ECG-MONITORING-7-TO-15-DAYS

CPT 93245: Ambulatory ECG Monitoring, >7 to 15 Days

Showing 1–10 of 20

Frequently Asked Questions

References

1.CPT® Codes and Descriptions. AAPC. Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.Maintains the CPT code set's official descriptions and guidelines, licensed from the American Medical Association, used as the definitional source for CPT codes on this page.
2.HCPCS Quarterly Update. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.CMS's quarterly release of HCPCS Level II codes and short/long descriptors, the source for HCPCS code definitions and update history.
3.ICD-10-CM Full Code List. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.CMS's complete ICD-10-CM diagnosis code list, used to cross-reference diagnosis codes associated with this procedure or service.

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Trek Health powers OpenPayer with a leading commercial payer intelligence platform, seamlessly converting fragmented payer data into actionable insights for provider organizations.

Trek Health ingests and normalizes Transparency in Coverage data and payer policy updates to give provider organizations a clear view of how commercial reimbursement behaves across markets, payers, and services. Our platform transforms raw payer disclosures into structured intelligence that supports contract evaluation, payer negotiations, and service line strategy. By combining market benchmarks with ongoing policy visibility, Trek helps teams identify variability, risk, and opportunity in commercial reimbursement. The result is faster insight, stronger negotiating positions, and more informed financial decisions.

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Clinical & Coding Specifications

Clinical Context

Typical workflow:

Referral and order placed by a cardiologist or primary care provider, including indication such as R00.2 (palpitations) or I48.91 (unspecified atrial fibrillation).
Device setup: patient receives device and instructions; technical support may provide remote setup and connection verification.
Monitoring phase: continuous ECG recording and near–real-time transmission of abnormal rhythm alerts to an attended surveillance center; events are stored for retrieval.
Interpretation: the physician reviews transmitted data and computer-generated summaries, interprets clinically significant rhythms, documents findings, and generates a report for the referring provider.
Billing: the physician reports the professional interpretation and report for continuous ambulatory ECG monitoring using 93228 for the interpretation of continuous transmitted data.

Related CPT Codes

CPT Code	Description	Relationship to This Procedure
`93229`	External mobile cardiovascular telemetry with electrocardiographic recording, concurrent computerized real time data analysis and greater than 24 hours of accessible ECG data storage (retrievable with query) with ECG triggered and patient selected events transmitted to a remote attended surveillance center for up to 30 days; technical support for connection and patient instructions for use, attended surveillance, analysis and transmission of daily and emergent data reports as prescribed by a physician or other qualified health care professional	Often billed for the technical services, device management, and attended surveillance portion of continuous mobile telemetry that complements the physician interpretation billed with `93228`.
`93268`	External patient-activated and, when performed, auto-activated electrocardiographic rhythm derived event recording (Event monitor) may be worn for up to 30 days	Represents an alternative ambulatory monitoring modality (event monitor) used when intermittent patient-activated recordings are appropriate; may be used before or instead of continuous telemetry depending on clinical indication.

Related Modifiers

7 rows

Modifier	Description	When to Use
26	Modifier 26 (Professional Component) identifies and bills only the professional portion of a split service — the physician’s interpretation, report, and medical judgment — when the technical…	- Use CPT Modifier -26 when you are billing only the professional component (PC) of a split‑bill eligible service—i.e., you performed the physician interpretation, medical judgment and prepared a…
95	Modifier 95 indicates that a service was provided via synchronous, real‑time audio‑video telehealth rather than in‑person. Per CMS, AAPC and professional associations, append modifier 95 to claim…	- Use modifier 95 to indicate a service was furnished via synchronous, real‑time audiovisual telehealth (a live audio‑video conference between patient and provider) rather than in‑person. - Pair…
59	Modifier 59 indicates a distinct procedural service when two procedures that are not normally billed together are clinically and procedurally separate. The CPT definition (as reiterated by CMS)…	- Use modifier -59 to report a distinct procedural service when documentation supports that the procedure reported is not normally billed together with another service on the same day because of a…
52	Modifier ‑52 (Reduced Services) indicates that a service or procedure was partially reduced or omitted at the provider’s discretion, allowing reporting of the basic procedure number with a qualifier…	- Use modifier -52 when a physician or qualified health professional electively reduces or omits part of a procedure or service (for example, performing fewer required views or omitting a portion of…
53	Modifier 53 (Discontinued Procedure) signals that a surgical or diagnostic service was begun by the physician but terminated because of extenuating circumstances that threatened the patient’s…	- Use modifier -53 when a physician/qualified healthcare professional has started a surgical or diagnostic procedure (e.g., anesthesia administered, incision or scope insertion) and then discontinues…
77	Modifier 77 indicates that a previously performed procedure or service was legitimately repeated by a different physician or other qualified health care professional. The AMA’s CPT definition…	- Use modifier 77 when a basic procedure or service already performed is repeated by a different physician or other qualified health care professional (for example, a second provider independently…
78	CPT modifier -78 indicates an unplanned, related return to the operating or procedure room by the same provider during the global postoperative period. It is appended when treatment for a…	- Use modifier -78 when an unplanned, related complication during the original procedure’s global postoperative period requires the patient to return to a formal operating or procedure room and the…

Related Provider Taxonomies

8 rows

Taxonomy Code	Specialty	Notes
207RC0000X	Cardiovascular Disease Physician	An internist who specializes in diseases of the heart and blood vessels and manages complex cardiac conditions such as heart attacks and life-threaten…
261QC1800X	Corporate Health Clinic/Center	Ambulatory Health Care Facilities · Clinic/Center
207T00000X	Neurological Surgery Physician	A neurological surgeon provides the operative and non-operative management (i.e., prevention, diagnosis, evaluation, treatment, critical care, and reh…
2086H0002X	Hospice and Palliative Medicine (Surgery) Physician	A surgeon with special knowledge and skills to prevent and relieve the suffering experienced by patients with life-limiting illnesses. This specialist…
2080P0201X	Pediatric Allergy/Immunology Physician	A pediatrician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of allergies, allergic reactions, and immunologic diseases in children.
2471M2300X	Mammography Radiologic Technologist	A radiologic technologist who specializes in mammography and is appropriately educated and trained, consistent with nationally recognized standards, s…
2086P0122X	Physician Nutrition Specialist (Surgery)	A physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of primary nutritional diseases (e.g., undernutrition, overnutrition, and genetic or acquir…
207ZP0101X	Anatomic Pathology Physician	A pathologist deals with the causes and nature of disease and contributes to diagnosis, prognosis and treatment through knowledge gained by the labora…

Related Payer Policy Updates

Specialty: Cardiology1 / 3

10 rows

Policy	Payer	Effective Date
Cardiac Computed Tomography (CCT)/Coronary Computed Tomographic Angiography (CCTA)	univerahealthcare	2026-10-15
Cardiovascular Disease Risk Assessment	Oscar Health	2026-10-01
Biomarkers for Myocardial Infarction and Chronic Heart Failure	Oscar Health	2026-10-01
Multiple Procedure Payment Reduction for Diagnostic Cardiovascular Procedures	Blue Cross Blue Shield - Maine	2026-10-01
Cardiovascular Disease Risk Assessment	blue cross blue shield - louisiana	2026-09-15
Cardiovascular Disease Risk Assessment	Blue Cross Blue Shield - New Mexico	2026-09-04
Computed Tomography to Detect Coronary Artery Calcification	Bluecross Idaho	2026-09-01
Intracoronary Drug Delivery Balloon Procedures	Blue Cross Blue Shield - Rhode Island	2026-09-01
Cardiac Imaging Guidelines	evicore	2026-09-01
Percutaneous Left Atrial Appendage Closure Device for Stroke Prevention	Ambetter Georgia	2026-08-26

CPT 93224: Ambulatory ECG Recorder Application and Interpretation, Up to 48 Hours

CPT-93225-AMBULATORY-ECG-RECORDING-UP-TO-48-HOURS

CPT 93225: ECG Recorder Application for Up to 48 Hours Recording Only

CPT-93226-AMBULATORY-ECG-SCANNING-ANALYSIS-REPORT-UP-TO-48-HOURS

CPT 93226: ECG Recorder Scanning Analysis and Report, Up to 48 Hours

CPT-93227-48-HOUR-EXTERNAL-ECG-RECORDER-INTERPRETATION

CPT 93227: 48‑Hour Ambulatory ECG Recorder Review and Interpretation

CPT-93229-WEARABLE-ECG-MONITOR-PLACEMENT-AND-MONITORING

CPT 93229: Wearable Electrocardiographic Monitor Placement and Monitoring

CPT-93241-EXTENDED-AMBULATORY-ECG-MONITORING-48-HOURS-TO-7-DAYS

CPT 93241: Ambulatory ECG Monitoring >48 Hours up to 7 Days

CPT-93242-AMBULATORY-ECG-MONITORING-48-HOURS-TO-7-DAYS

CPT 93242: Ambulatory ECG Recorder Worn >48 Hours to 7 Days

CPT-93243-ECG-RECORDER-SCANNING-ANALYSIS-48-HOURS-TO-7-DAYS

CPT 93243: ECG Recorder Monitoring >48 Hours to 7 Days

CPT-93244-ECG-RECORDER-48-HOURS-UP-TO-7-DAYS-INTERPRETATION

CPT 93244: ECG Recorder >48 Hours to 7 Days Interpretation

CPT-93245-EXTENDED-AMBULATORY-ECG-MONITORING-7-TO-15-DAYS

CPT 93245: Ambulatory ECG Monitoring, >7 to 15 Days

Showing 1–10 of 20

Frequently Asked Questions

References

1.CPT® Codes and Descriptions. AAPC. Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.Maintains the CPT code set's official descriptions and guidelines, licensed from the American Medical Association, used as the definitional source for CPT codes on this page.
2.HCPCS Quarterly Update. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.CMS's quarterly release of HCPCS Level II codes and short/long descriptors, the source for HCPCS code definitions and update history.
3.ICD-10-CM Full Code List. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Retrieved Aug 11, 2026.CMS's complete ICD-10-CM diagnosis code list, used to cross-reference diagnosis codes associated with this procedure or service.

Published by

Trek Health powers OpenPayer with a leading commercial payer intelligence platform, seamlessly converting fragmented payer data into actionable insights for provider organizations.

OpenPayer

CPT 93228: External Mobile Cardiac Telemetry Interpretation

Sign up for cpt 93228 policy alerts

National Reimbursement Benchmarks

OpenPayer

CPT 93228: External Mobile Cardiac Telemetry Interpretation

Sign up for cpt 93228 policy alerts

National Reimbursement Benchmarks

Clinical & Coding Specifications

Clinical Context

Related CPT Codes

Related Modifiers

Related Provider Taxonomies

Related Payer Policy Updates

Related Codes

References

Clinical & Coding Specifications

Clinical Context

Related CPT Codes

Related Modifiers

Related Provider Taxonomies

Related Payer Policy Updates

Related Codes

References

CPT 93228: External Mobile Cardiac Telemetry Interpretation

Sign up for cpt 93228 policy alerts

National Reimbursement Benchmarks

CPT 93228: External Mobile Cardiac Telemetry Interpretation

Sign up for cpt 93228 policy alerts

National Reimbursement Benchmarks

Clinical & Coding Specifications

Clinical Context

Related CPT Codes

Related Modifiers

Related Provider Taxonomies

Related Payer Policy Updates

Related Codes

What service does CPT 93228 describe?

How does CPT 93228 relate to CPT 93229?

For what clinical indications is CPT 93228 commonly used?

What is the typical workflow that leads to billing CPT 93228?

How does CPT 93228 compare to event monitor CPT 93268?

References

Clinical & Coding Specifications

Clinical Context

Related CPT Codes

Related Modifiers

Related Provider Taxonomies

Related Payer Policy Updates

Related Codes

What service does CPT 93228 describe?

How does CPT 93228 relate to CPT 93229?

For what clinical indications is CPT 93228 commonly used?

What is the typical workflow that leads to billing CPT 93228?

How does CPT 93228 compare to event monitor CPT 93268?

References