CPT 93351: Continuous Transthoracic Stress Echocardiography
Medicare pays $162 and commercial payers pay $757 on average nationally for this procedure.
CPT code 93351 describes continuous transthoracic echocardiography performed at rest and after exercise with review of images to evaluate global and ventricular performance and other cardiac causes of chest pain; this procedure is a diagnostic stress echocardiography service that includes real-time imaging and interpretation and is typically provided as a cardiology service in an outpatient cardiology clinic, stress testing laboratory, or ambulatory imaging center.
For related coverage guidance, see recent payer policy updates: Cardiac Computed Tomography (CCT)/Coronary Computed Tomographic Angiography (CCTA), Cardiovascular Disease Risk Assessment, Biomarkers for Myocardial Infarction and Chronic Heart Failure.
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National Reimbursement Benchmarks
Commercial averages are generally higher than Medicare for CPT 93351: Blue Cross Blue Shield mean ($1,136.40) and BUCA mean ($756.90) both exceed the Medicare mean ($162.00), highlighting a sizable gap between commercial and federal reimbursement levels. UnitedHealth Group ($260.70), Cigna ($269.10), and Aetna ($223.00) cluster between Medicare and the highest commercial mean, while Blue Cross Blue Shield stands well above that cluster.
Dispersion measured by the interquartile range (P75–P25) is widest for Blue Cross Blue Shield at $490.00 ($1,379.80–$900.80) and relatively wide for BUCA at $362.00 ($925.80–$576.60). UnitedHealth Group shows a moderate spread of $182.60 ($334.30–$151.70). The tightest spreads are Aetna at $135.10 ($274.90–$135.90) and Cigna at $207.60 ($352.00–$145.40), indicating more consistency in those commercial contracts compared with Blue Cross Blue Shield and BUCA.