CPT 97140: Manual Therapy for Soft Tissue and Joint Dysfunction
Medicare pays $29 and commercial payers pay $60 on average nationally for this procedure.
CPT code 97140 represents manual therapy provided by a physical or occupational therapist, involving hands-on techniques such as soft tissue mobilization, joint mobilization, and traction to improve joint mobility, alignment, tissue healing, and lymphatic drainage; the service is a therapeutic procedure typically delivered in outpatient rehabilitation clinics or hospital-based therapy departments for musculoskeletal conditions such as chronic back pain and joint pain.
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 rate of $28.7 for CPT 97140 sits substantially below the BUCA average commercial mean of $60.3, reflecting a roughly $31.6 gap that highlights the standard public payor compression versus commercial reimbursement. That gap underscores why comparisons to a commercial benchmark like BUCA are useful when assessing net revenue expectations across payers.
Dispersion measured by the interquartile range (P75–P25) varies meaningfully: Blue Cross Blue Shield shows a tight spread of $30.0 (P75 $85.5 minus P25 $54.0), while UnitedHealth Group has a narrower IQR of $12.7 (P75 $36.6 minus P25 $24.9). The widest dispersion appears with Cigna at $47.3 (P75 $77.2 minus P25 $29.9) and Aetna at $45.8 (P75 $71.9 minus P25 $23.1), indicating greater variability in mid-range commercial reimbursement.