Find policies, billing codes, payers, states, and providers
CPT 95851: Range of Motion Measurement for Spine or Extremity
CPT code 95851 denotes a focused range of motion measurement for a single spinal section or a single extremity (excluding the hand). This procedure documents joint mobility and is used in musculoskeletal, rehabilitation, and functional assessments. Nationally, accurate capture of range-of-motion testing supports clinical decision-making, disability evaluations, and functional restoration planning, and it influences reporting of objective functional status in outpatient and therapy settings.
Key payers included in this review are Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, United Healthcare, and Medicare. Readers will find a concise description of the service, typical sites of care, common clinical contexts where the code is applied, and the billing relationships to related evaluation and testing codes. The analysis highlights where 95851 fits relative to therapy evaluation codes and formal performance tests to clarify appropriate coding selection.
This summary provides clinical context, coding relationships, and practical considerations for payers and providers managing musculoskeletal assessments. It is intended for national audiences involved in coding, compliance, clinical operations, and reimbursement policy who need a focused reference on the role and application of CPT code 95851.
Customize your policy alerts
Sign up for cpt 95851 policy alerts
Get alerted when payer policies referencing 95851 are released or updated.
Monitor payer policy activity
Billing Code Overview
CPT code 95851 describes measurement of range of motion for a single section of the spine or a single extremity (excluding the hand). The procedure assesses how much movement exists at a joint and documents the degree of flexion, extension, abduction, adduction or rotation for the specified region.
Service type: Range of motion measurement / musculoskeletal functional testing
Typical site of service: Outpatient clinic, physical therapy or rehabilitation setting, or physician office
National Reimbursement Benchmarks
Across national payers, Medicare’s mean rate for CPT 95851 sits at $27.10, very close to BUCA’s average commercial mean of $19.60 — Medicare is higher by $7.50 but within a comparable range of commercial averages. This places Medicare near the middle-to-upper end of listed mean rates, while BUCA aligns with a moderate commercial benchmark.
Dispersion (P75 minus P25) highlights differing variability: Blue Cross Blue Shield has a spread of $12.00, Aetna $13.30, Cigna $21.10, UnitedHealth Group $18.50, and BUCA $12.80; Medicare’s interquartile spread is narrow at $3.00. Cigna shows the widest dispersion at $21.10, indicating the largest variability in commercial payments, while Medicare is the tightest at $3.00, reflecting the most consistent locality-level medians.