Q0478 — Power adapter for use with electric or electric/pneumatic ventricular assist device, vehicle type
Q0478 is a HCPCS Level II code for power adapter for use with electric or electric/pneumatic ventricular assist device, vehicle type. It belongs to the Temporary Codes section. Whether Medicare pays it depends on the coverage rule below.
Medicare coverage: Special coverage instructions apply
There are published conditions attached to this code. Check the applicable coverage policy before billing it: the code being valid is not the same as the service being covered.
From the coverage field of the CMS Alpha-Numeric HCPCS File, release 2026Q3-Jul. This states Medicare’s position on the code, not on your particular claim.
Physician fee schedule statusE
Excluded from the physician fee schedule by regulation. Payment, where it exists, comes from another fee schedule (drugs via ASP, supplies via DMEPOS, and so on).
Global period: XXX
Want the dollar amount for your locality? The fee calculator applies your GPCI and the current conversion factor.
Medically Unlikely Edits — units per day
The most units of Q0478 Medicare will pay on one date of service. Bill more on a single line and it is denied. The limit is not the same in every setting, so the row that matters is the one matching the claim you are building.
- practitioner
- 1 unit MAI 3 — Date of Service Edit: Clinical · Nature of Equipment
- outpatient
- 1 unit MAI 3 — Date of Service Edit: Clinical · Nature of Equipment
- DME supplier
- 0 — never payable MAI 3 — Date of Service Edit: Clinical · CMS Policy
The adjudication indicator decides whether exceeding the limit is worth appealing at all: MAI 1 is a line edit you can support with documentation, MAI 3 is a date-of-service edit that is also appealable, and MAI 2 is absolute — no documentation overrides it. CMS MUE 2026Q3.
The CMS record for Q0478
- Long descriptor
- Power adapter for use with electric or electric/pneumatic ventricular assist device, vehicle type
- Short descriptor
- Power adapter, combo vad
- Added
- January 1, 2011
- BETOS
- D1F
- Pricing indicator
- 38 — DMEPOS
The official wording. This is what the code means.
CMS's 28-character form, which is what shows up on a remittance advice.
When CMS introduced the code.
Berenson-Eggers Type of Service — CMS's own analytic grouping.
Orthotics, prosthetics, prosthetic devices and vision services. Price subject to floors and ceilings.
Codes adjacent to Q0478
HCPCS has no hierarchy — related items simply sit next to each other in the numbering. If Q0478 is not quite right, the correct code is very often within a few positions of it.
- Q0239Injection, bamlanivimab-xxxx, 700 mgterminated
- Q0240Injection, casirivimab and imdevimab, 600 mgterminated
- Q0243Injection, casirivimab and imdevimab, 2400 mgterminated
- Q0244Injection, casirivimab and imdevimab, 1200 mgterminated
- Q0245Injection, bamlanivimab and etesevimab, 2100 mgterminated
- Q0247Injection, sotrovimab, 500 mgterminated
- Q0249Injection, tocilizumab, for hospitalized adults and pediatric patients (2 years of age and older) with covid-19 who are receiving systemic corticosteroids and require supplemental oxygen, non-invasive or invasive mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ecmo) only, 1 mg
- Q0477Power module patient cable for use with electric or electric/pneumatic ventricular assist device, replacement only
- Q0479Power module for use with electric or electric/pneumatic ventricular assist device, replacement only
- Q0480Driver for use with pneumatic ventricular assist device, replacement only
- Q0481Microprocessor control unit for use with electric ventricular assist device, replacement only
- Q0482Microprocessor control unit for use with electric/pneumatic combination ventricular assist device, replacement only
- Q0483Monitor/display module for use with electric ventricular assist device, replacement only
- Q0484Monitor/display module for use with electric or electric/pneumatic ventricular assist device, replacement only
- Q0485Monitor control cable for use with electric ventricular assist device, replacement only
- Q0486Monitor control cable for use with electric/pneumatic ventricular assist device, replacement only
Questions about Q0478
What is HCPCS code Q0478?
Q0478 is a HCPCS Level II code for power adapter for use with electric or electric/pneumatic ventricular assist device, vehicle type. It sits in the Temporary Codes section.
Does Medicare cover Q0478?
The CMS HCPCS file marks Q0478 as "Special coverage instructions apply". There are published conditions attached to this code. Check the applicable coverage policy before billing it: the code being valid is not the same as the service being covered.
How is Q0478 paid under the physician fee schedule?
Q0478 carries PFS status code E. Excluded from the physician fee schedule by regulation. Payment, where it exists, comes from another fee schedule (drugs via ASP, supplies via DMEPOS, and so on).