Dermatology · specialty benchmark

Dermatology commercial reimbursement benchmarks

What commercial payers pay for the procedures that matter most to dermatology practices.

Dermatology at a glance

4,305 sampled providers
Codes tracked
44
publishable codes
Median % of Medicare
97%
across codes
Highest state
AK
Alaska
Highest payer
UHC
UnitedHealthcare

What the data shows

1

Dermatology rates in this dataset cover 44 procedure codes and 4,305 sampled providers in 51 states, at a median 97% of Medicare.

2

Alaska has the highest dermatology index and Arizona the lowest.

3

UnitedHealthcare has the highest dermatology index and Aetna the lowest.

4

The biggest revenue code by Medicare allowed dollars is CPT 99213 (Office o/p est low 20 min), paid at a 76-dollar median, 80% of Medicare.

Top dermatology codes by Medicare revenue

Ranked by Medicare allowed dollars billed by the specialty
RankCodeMedianMedicare% of MedicareProviders
1CPT 99213
Office o/p est low 20 min
$76$95.1980%4,286
2CPT 17311
Mohs 1 stage h/n/hf/g
$577$286.91201%4,282
3CPT 99214
Office o/p est mod 30 min
$110$135.6181%4,285
4CPT 17000
Destruct premalg lesion
$69$66.47104%4,289
5CPT 17110
Destruction b9 les up to 14
$101$111.2291%4,293
6CPT 11102
Tangntl bx skin single les
$65$30.06216%4,286
7CPT 88305
Tissue exam by pathologist
$68$70.1497%4,270
8CPT 17313
Mohs 1 stage t/a/l
$515$257.52200%4,280
9CPT 17004
Destroy premal lesions 15/>
$154$162.3395%4,289
10CPT 77280
Ther rad simulaj field smpl
$302$269.55112%4,264

Dermatology by payer

Index: 100 = four-payer median for the specialty's codes
PayerIndexRankLevelHighest on
UnitedHealthcare1191
84%
Blue Cross Blue Shield1022
16%
Cigna973
0%
Aetna814
0%

Dermatology by state

Index: 100 = the specialty's national median
RankStateIndexLevelCodesProviders
1Alaska243
4416
2Wisconsin204
44104
3Nebraska164
4448
4Oregon158
44108
5South Dakota157
4437
6New Hampshire150
4478
7Minnesota149
44116
8Massachusetts148
44116
9North Dakota146
4424
10Washington143
44107
11Hawaii139
4446
12Georgia136
44116
13Iowa135
4463
14Maine134
4441
15Mississippi126
4455
16Vermont112
4422
17Connecticut109
44109
18Montana108
4444
19Idaho108
4446
20Illinois106
44114
21Rhode Island105
4448
22New York102
44107
23Colorado101
44125
24West Virginia101
4431
25Kansas101
4473
26Utah99
44113
27Pennsylvania99
44119
28Nevada98
4467
29Michigan97
44108
30North Carolina97
44125
31Ohio95
44115
32New Mexico94
4434
33Missouri94
44118
34Tennessee93
44123
35California92
4498
36Delaware92
4418
37Louisiana91
44130
38Arkansas91
4465
39Texas90
44134
40Oklahoma90
4480
41Kentucky85
44112
42Virginia85
44121
43South Carolina85
44109
44Indiana84
44116
45New Jersey83
4499
46Maryland80
44109
47District of Columbia77
4437
48Alabama77
44131
49Florida75
44114
50Arizona72
44104

Methodology

How these numbers are calculated
  • Source: in-network negotiated-rate files published under the federal Transparency in Coverage rule, August 2026 snapshot: UnitedHealthcare Choice plans (74 files); Aetna commercial plans (70 files); Cigna national PPO (1 files); BCBS licensees' own-network files (5,387 files). Payer comparisons describe these files, not each payer's entire book of business.
  • Sample: rates come from a random sample of up to 150 providers per state and specialty. Counts on this page are sampled providers and TINs, not totals.
  • Which providers count: only providers in a specialty relevant to the code, because a rate in a payer file attaches to a provider group and is listed under every provider in that group.
  • Filters: fee-for-service, professional billing class, no modifier, negotiated or fee-schedule dollar rates. Rates outside 1% to 1,000% of the Medicare rate are excluded.
  • Statistic: one median rate per provider, then percentiles across providers. A cell is shown only with at least 15 sampled providers and 4 TINs.
  • Medicare benchmark: CY2026 national physician fee schedule, non-QPP conversion factor, unadjusted for locality. Where the non-facility rate is more than twice the facility rate (office rates that include device or supply cost), the facility rate is used so comparisons are like for like.

Benchmark your dermatology contracts

See how your negotiated rates compare by code, payer and state.

Request a rate benchmark