CPT 12001
Simple wound repair, up to 2.5 cm
Stitches, staples or skin glue for a simple cut on the scalp, neck, torso, arm or leg, up to 2.5 centimetres long. Simple means one layer. The code family runs by length (12002 for 2.6 to 7.5 cm, and so on) and there are separate families for the face (12011 onward) and for deeper, intermediate repairs (12031 onward).
Billed to Medicare
$405
What providers submitted, on average, for this code in a hospital setting.
Medicare accepted
$41
What Medicare treated as payable. Not a commercial rate or a cash price.
The gap
9.9x
How many times the accepted amount the billed figure was.
National averages from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2024 data, retrieved 2026-09-14. Medicare fee-for-service, physician and practitioner claims only. The hospital's own charge for the same code is separate and is usually higher. Based on 100,674 services.
Of the 10 er procedures and injections codes on this site with CMS figures, this one has the widest gap between what is billed and what Medicare accepts. The narrowest is Nebulizer (breathing) treatment at 2x.
Where this line goes wrong
Lengths add up, they do not multiply
Two simple cuts in the same body group are coded as one repair at their combined length, not two separate repairs. Two 12001 lines for the same visit is usually an error.
Simple versus intermediate
An intermediate repair (12031 family) needs layered closure or extensive cleaning documented in the note. If the note says a single layer of sutures, the simple code applies and is cheaper.
Supplies inside the code
Sutures, local anaesthetic and the suture kit are part of the procedure. Separate supply lines for them on the physician bill are duplicates; on the hospital bill they may appear as supplies (0270) and are worth questioning too.
Check it, then ask
- 1
Ask for the ER note and check the recorded wound length, location and number of layers against the code billed.
- 2
Check for more than one repair code on the same visit and whether the wounds were in the same body group.
- 3
Look for suture kits, anaesthetic or dressings billed separately.
- 4
Check the ER visit level billed alongside the repair; a simple laceration with nothing else going on is usually a low or mid level.
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People also ask
How much do stitches cost?
The repair code is only part of it. The ER visit level, the facility fee, any x-ray and the supplies are separate lines. The figures on this page are the Medicare averages for the repair code alone.
Is skin glue billed the same as stitches?
Yes, tissue adhesive counts as a simple repair and uses the same code family.
Sources
This page explains a billing code in general terms. It is not a coding, legal or medical opinion about your bill, and the code descriptions are mediloop's own plain-English summaries, not the official CPT descriptors, which are owned by the American Medical Association. Whether a charge was correct depends on the record of your visit and your payer's rules.