Modifier TC: Billing Only the Technical Component (the Equipment and Staff)
Modifier TC bills only the technical component of a diagnostic service — the equipment, supplies, and technologist time — when a different provider performs the interpretation. It is the mirror of modifier 26: TC covers producing the study, 26 covers reading it, and together they equal the global fee.
- Applies to
- Diagnostic codes with a PC/TC split, billed by the equipment owner
- Payment impact
- Pays the technical share — usually the larger part of the global fee
- Audit risk
- Moderate — POS mismatches and duplicate global/TC billing draw reviews
- Common denial
- CO-4 on codes with no split; denials when billed for hospital patients
What does modifier TC do?
It limits payment for a diagnostic code to the technical component: the room, the machine, the film or digital capture, the supplies, and the technologist who performed the study. The physician interpretation is billed separately with modifier 26 by whoever wrote the report. On the fee schedule, TC plus 26 always equals the global rate — for most imaging, TC is the bigger slice because it carries the practice-expense overhead.
When do you use it?
When you own the equipment but did not do the read. Realistic example: a primary care office has its own X-ray unit. A patient gets a wrist series (73110) in the office, and the images are sent to a teleradiology group for official interpretation. The office bills 73110-TC (POS 11) and gets the technical payment; the teleradiologist bills 73110-26. If the same office physician had also done the documented interpretation, the office would bill 73110 globally instead — one claim, full fee.
- Physician offices with in-house imaging, EKG, or spirometry sent out for interpretation.
- IDTFs and freestanding imaging centers using outside reading groups.
- Portable X-ray suppliers billing the technical service.
When is it wrong or a denial trigger?
- Hospital patients. The technical component for inpatients and registered outpatients belongs to the hospital. A practice billing TC for those dates of service gets denied — or paid, then recouped.
- Global plus TC double-dip. Billing the global code and a TC line for the same study is a duplicate; expect CO-97 or OA-18 and a flag on the account.
- Codes with no split. Professional-only codes (like 93010, the EKG interpretation) have no TC to bill; the technical piece lives in 93005. Mismatches come back CO-4.
What are the documentation and payment impacts?
Payment equals the technical-component RVUs, which include equipment depreciation and staff cost. Documentation is operational rather than clinical: the order, proof the study was performed on your equipment by your staff, and the transmittal showing who interpreted it. When payers question a TC claim, the equipment ownership and the POS on the claim are the first two things they check — keep both airtight, and verify expected dollars with the Medicare fee calculator.
Frequently asked questions
The entity that owns the equipment and employs the technologist — a physician office with its own X-ray suite, an independent diagnostic testing facility (IDTF), or an imaging center. Hospitals do not use TC on professional claims; their technical costs ride the institutional claim instead.
Because the technical component for hospital patients is paid to the hospital under OPPS, not to a physician practice on a professional claim. If the patient was registered at the hospital when the study was done, the facility owns the TC and your claim will deny or be recouped.
Yes — that is exactly what the split is for. The imaging center bills 70450-TC for performing the head CT and the radiology group bills 70450-26 for reading it. Both claims pay independently and sum to the global allowable.
No. Only codes with a PC/TC indicator of 1 on the fee schedule split this way. Appending TC to anything else returns a CO-4 modifier-inconsistent denial.
Sources & further reading
Reviewed by the ImmediCare Solutions RCM team
Certified billers and coders handling claims across 50+ specialties nationwide. This entry is reviewed against current payer policy and CMS rules. Last review: Jul 5, 2026.
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