Incision and drainage of one uncomplicated skin or subcutaneous abscess, cyst, boil, or nail fold infection.
- Medicare
- $128.59
- Work RVU
- 1.19
- Global, days
- 10
- Region
- Multi-region
Documentation requirements
What must appear in the operative or office note to support the claim.
Source · Editorial brief grounded in 3 cited references ↓
- Exact location and size of the abscess
- Depth confirmed as skin or subcutaneous only
- Single lesion, no loculations, no packing beyond simple gauze
- Anesthesia used and technique of incision
- Drainage description and cultures if taken
- Wound care and follow-up plan
Applicable modifiers
Modifiers commonly billed with this code.
Source · AMA CPT modifier descriptors · CMS NCCI Policy Manual
What this code covers
Source · Editorial summary grounded in 3 cited references ↓
10060 is the basic incision and drainage of a single, simple collection in the skin or just under it. Examples are a furuncle, an infected sebaceous cyst, or a paronychia. It carries a 10-day global.
Ortho and podiatry practices use it mostly in the hand and foot. A patient walks in with a paronychia on the index finger or a small abscess on the dorsum of the foot, the provider opens it, drains it, and packs it. If the infection is deeper than the subcutaneous layer, this is the wrong code. Finger infections in the tendon sheath or pulp have their own hand codes (26010, 26011, 26020),, and an abscess below the fascia goes to the deep drainage code for that body region.
Things that cause denials: billing an E/M on the same day without modifier 25 and a separately documented evaluation, billing 10060 when the record shows more than one lesion or packing and loculations (that points to 10061), and billing drainage of a new, unrelated abscess inside the 10-day global without modifier 79. Nail removal for an ingrown nail is a different code, even if pus is present.
RVU & reimbursement
Component RVUs and Medicare national rate. Actual payment varies by GPCI locality.
Source · CMS Physician Fee Schedule, RVU26A · January 2026
Work RVU vs. total RVU
The work RVU (1.19) is the surgeon's own effort — the figure physician pay and productivity targets are built on. The total RVU (3.85) adds practice overhead and malpractice, and is what drives the Medicare payment below.
| Work RVU | 1.19 |
| Practice expense RVU | 2.53 |
| Malpractice RVU | 0.13 |
| Total RVU | 3.85 |
| Medicare national rate | $128.59 |
| Global period | 10 days |
Payment by site of service
Medicare pays different rates by setting. HOPD typically pays substantially more than ASC for the same procedure.
Source · CMS OPPS Addendum B·ASC HCPCS payment rates·2026
| Setting | Medicare rate (national) |
|---|---|
Office (PFS non-facility) Procedure performed in physician's office | $128.59 |
HOPD (APC 5051) Hospital outpatient department | $204.98 |
ASC (PI P3) Ambulatory surgical center (freestanding) | $84.93 |
Common denial reasons
The recurring reasons claims for CPT 10060 get rejected.
Source · Editorial brief grounded in CMS NCCI edits, AAOS coding appeals, and cited references ↓
- Same-day E/M without modifier 25 or separate documentation
- Deep or tendon-sheath infection coded as simple skin I&D
- New, unrelated abscess drained inside the 10-day global without 79
- Documentation describes multiple lesions or complex drainage but 10060 billed
- Paronychia with nail removal coded as I&D only
Frequently asked questions
Source · Generated from the editorial pipeline, verified against 3 cited references ↓
01Is a paronychia drainage billed as 10060?
02Can I bill an office visit with 10060?
03What is the difference between 10060 and 10061?
04What is the global period for 10060?
Sources & references
Editorial content was developed using the following public sources.
Mira Scribe
Mira Scribe records lesion location, depth, size, and how it was drained, so the note supports simple versus complicated I&D without a query.
See how Mira captures CPT 10060 documentation