Varicose vein ablation clinicians

Understanding CMS Data

CMS's "Varicose vein removal" category combines specific billing codes for varicose vein treatment to calculate the number of times each clinician billed Medicare for a "Varicose vein removal." These include heat (radiofrequency or laser) ablation, medical adhesive closure, mechanochemical ablation, and sclerotherapy injections. All of these close a varicose vein in place rather than removing it, and the category does not include surgical removal of a vein (vein stripping or phlebectomy). A treatment counts whether it was an injection during an office visit or a catheter procedure, and a patient who has treatment in more than one session contributes to the total each time. CMS states that it excludes claim lines with modifiers indicating that a clinician performed a very limited role in a procedure. CMS reports only procedures that clinicians billed to Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage. Therefore, CMS's procedure volume data does not include procedures that clinicians may have performed on patients who have other health care coverage (e.g., commercial insurance, self-pay, or the VA). Billing variation and coding errors can also affect CMS's data. Therefore, the number of procedures that CMS reports for a clinician may be higher or lower than the actual number of varicose vein removal procedures a clinician performed during the reporting period. Lastly, we apply no specialty filter in this category, so this page includes clinicians of every primary specialty.

Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (August 18, 2026 release).