CPT97161

How Much Does a PT Evaluation (Low Complexity) Cost in Missouri?

Pt eval low complex 20 min

$94.07Missouri physician fee2026 Medicare office rate

Under 2026 Medicare rates, a PT evaluation (low complexity) costs about $94 in Missouri, from $92 in Rest of Missouri to $96 in Metropolitan St. Louis.

Hospital payments are wage-adjusted by locality, so the ZIP changes the numbers.
Complete Cost Report + Letters
Adds the letters that get a price in writing before you book.
$6.99
  • ✓Everything in the Premium report
  • ✓15 nearby hospitals instead of five
  • ✓Filled good-faith-estimate request letter
  • ✓Bill-negotiation letter
  • ✓Printable PDF download
🔒 Secure checkout⚡ Instant link✓ One-off, no account✓ No records, no insurance card

Missouri Medicare physician rate (2026)

-3.9% vs national

Average of 3 localities. Office range $91.50–$95.65.

Missouri (Hospital)
$94.07
Facility physician fee
Private plan est.
$122–$188
~130–200% of Medicare
Cash / self-pay est.
$75–$141
~80–150% of Medicare

Your ZIP in Missouri

Enter a ZIP code to see which Missouri locality covers you: metro St. Louis, metro Kansas City, or rest-of-state areas like Springfield, Columbia, Joplin, and the Bootheel.

What PT evaluation (low complexity) costs at hospitals near you

Everything above is a national average. The hospital you pick in Missouri moves the bill more than anything else you control.

Locked

Rates for your ZIP, 5 named hospitals with CMS ratings, the add-on codes, and the scheduler script.

One-off payment, no account and no subscription. You get a private link and an email. No medical records and no insurance card, ever.

What these numbers are

Every figure on this page is a 2026 Medicare allowed amount: the physician line comes from the Physician Fee Schedule adjusted by geographic practice-cost indices, and the facility totals come from the CMS hospital outpatient (OPPS) and ambulatory surgery center rates. None of them is a hospital chargemaster price, your insurer's contracted rate, or a quote. Anesthesia, pathology, imaging reads and follow-up care are billed under their own codes when they apply, and an inpatient stay is paid a different way again.

National vs Missouri

National office$97.86
National hospital (physician)$97.86
Missouri vs national4% below the national office rate of $97.86

Where Missouri ranks for this CPT

Rank (lowest physician fee first)#13 of 51
Lowest stateArkansas ($91.20)
Highest stateAlaska ($126.43)

CPT 97161 by Missouri locality

LocalityOffice
metropolitan st. louis$95.65
metropolitan kansas city$95.05
rest of missouri$91.50

PE GPCI ranges from 0.862 to 0.952 in Missouri. That index is why the same CPT is not one price statewide.

PT Evaluation (Low Complexity) and how Missouri is priced

Missouri is a three-locality state: metropolitan St. Louis and metropolitan Kansas City are each priced separately, and everywhere else falls into a rest-of-state locality with lower geographic adjustments. Both metro localities approve higher amounts than outstate Missouri, and the Kansas City locality applies only to the Missouri side of that metro, since the Kansas side prices under Kansas's statewide locality. Springfield, Columbia, and the rural counties all share rest-of-state factors. The metro-versus-outstate gap is the main pricing story here.

St. Louis and Kansas City hold the state's academic medical centers and most of its specialty depth, drawing patients from far beyond Missouri's borders, including southern Illinois and eastern Kansas. Outstate Missouri is served by regional hubs in Springfield, Columbia, and Cape Girardeau, with the Ozarks and Bootheel among the harder places to reach specialty care. Rural hospital viability has been a persistent concern across the state.

This procedure: This is the initial physical therapy evaluation for straightforward cases: a low-complexity assessment where the PT reviews your history, examines movement, strength, and function, and builds your treatment plan. It applies when you have no significant complicating factors, for example a recent simple ankle sprain in an otherwise healthy person. The appointment usually runs 30 to 60 minutes and often includes the first treatment, which is billed separately on top.

What Is PT Evaluation (Low Complexity)?

This is the initial physical therapy evaluation for straightforward cases: a low-complexity assessment where the PT reviews your history, examines movement, strength, and function, and builds your treatment plan. It applies when you have no significant complicating factors, for example a recent simple ankle sprain in an otherwise healthy person. The appointment usually runs 30 to 60 minutes and often includes the first treatment, which is billed separately on top.

What Affects the Cost

  • –The evaluation is a one-time charge at the start of care, usually priced above a standard treatment visit.
  • –Treatment codes billed at the same first visit stack on top of the evaluation fee.
  • –Complexity tiering matters: this low-complexity code is the least expensive of the three PT evaluation levels under many commercial fee schedules, though Medicare currently pays all three tiers the same.
  • –Direct access rules let you start PT without a physician referral in most states, saving a doctor visit, but some insurers still require a referral for payment.
  • –Hospital outpatient therapy departments attach facility fees to the evaluation that private clinics do not.

Questions to Ask Before Booking

  • 1.Do I need a physician referral for my insurance to pay, even though my state allows direct access?
  • 2.What does the evaluation cost, and will treatment on the same day be billed on top?
  • 3.Does the evaluation count against my plan's annual visit limit?
  • 4.After evaluating me, how many visits and units per visit do you anticipate?
  • 5.Is your clinic hospital-owned, and is there a facility fee on this evaluation?

PT Evaluation (Low Complexity) in Missouri: questions

Under 2026 Medicare rates, a PT evaluation (low complexity) costs about $94 in Missouri, from $92 in Rest of Missouri to $96 in Metropolitan St. Louis. Enter a ZIP for the exact Missouri locality.

Yes. CMS splits Missouri into 3 payment localities. For this CPT the office physician fee spans $4.15 from the lowest to highest locality. Enter a ZIP code to see which Missouri locality covers you: metro St. Louis, metro Kansas City, or rest-of-state areas like Springfield, Columbia, Joplin, and the Bootheel.

After the Part B deductible, coinsurance is usually 20% of the allowed amount: about $19 for the office physician line or $19 for the hospital physician line in Missouri. Medigap may cover that 20%. This is not the hospital facility fee.

No. $94.07 is the Medicare physician allowed amount for CPT 97161. Anesthesia, facility fees, implants, and other CPT codes billed the same day are extra. Missouri ranks #13 of 51 states on this physician line (4% below the national office rate of $97.86).

Data source: 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (CMS PPRRVU26B, released March 2026). Conversion factor: $33.4009. Prices shown are Medicare allowed amounts for the physician service and may not match what you are billed. Private insurance and self-pay ranges, when shown, are labeled estimates (typical multiples of Medicare), not quotes. This site is an independent cost tool, not medical advice.