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Procedure price report · Other non-OR gastrointestinal therapeutic procedures

Focused sound wave destruction of a liver tumor

CPT 0686Tthe billing code this page is about

Ultrasound energy is focused through the skin to break apart cancerous liver tissue, with imaging used to guide and monitor the treatment; no incision is made.

Hospitals typically charge $18,424 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 145 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $21,708. Most fall between $14,459 and $35,680 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
145
States
27
Filings dated
Sep 2025 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 23, 2026

Median: half of hospitals filed less, half more — and it is a price some hospital actually filed. Average of the middle 60%: the mean of the prices between the 20th and 80th percentiles. We never publish the plain average, the lowest or the highest price: the extremes in hospital price files are chargemaster artefacts, not prices anyone pays.

What hospitals charge, from cheapest to most expensive

Cash price percentiles, outpatient, across 145 hospitals. Each figure is a price a hospital filed. 10th: one in ten hospitals charges less; 25th: a quarter charge less; Median: half charge less; 75th: three quarters charge less; 90th: nine in ten charge less.
10th25thMedian75th90th
$5,226$15,001$18,424$33,254$48,468

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.3× what the cheapest tenth charges ($5,226 vs $48,468).

How the prices are spread

$4,548 – $5,762: 9 hospitals$4,548$5,762 – $7,300: 4 hospitals$7,300 – $9,249: 5 hospitals$7,300$9,249 – $11,719: 1 hospitals$11,719 – $14,847: 3 hospitals$11,719$14,847 – $18,811: 46 hospitals$18,811 – $23,832: 9 hospitals$18,811$23,832 – $30,195: 9 hospitals$30,195 – $38,255: 23 hospitals$30,195$38,255 – $48,468: 22 hospitals$38,255median $18,424price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (131 of 145 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$4,548$5,7629
$5,762$7,3004
$7,300$9,2495
$9,249$11,7191
$11,719$14,8473
$14,847$18,81146
$18,811$23,8329
$23,832$30,1959
$30,195$38,25523
$38,255$48,46822

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$17,501
Median cash price$18,424
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.05×

The Medicare figure is the national unadjusted OPPS rate for this code — what Medicare itself pays a hospital before local wage adjustment. It is a benchmark, not a price anyone is charged.

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $18,424.

Alaska: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceAKMaine: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMEVermont: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceVTNew Hampshire: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNHWashington: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceIDMontana: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMTNorth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceILWisconsin: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWIMichigan: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMINew York: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNYMassachusetts: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNVWyoming: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceIAIndiana: median $4,926 across 12 hospitalsIN$4,926Ohio: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureOHPennsylvania: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figurePANew Jersey: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNJConnecticut: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $48,468 across 37 hospitalsCA$48,468Utah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceCONebraska: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceKYWest Virginia: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceWVVirginia: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMDDelaware: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNMKansas: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSCOklahoma: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureOKLouisiana: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceLAMississippi: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMSAlabama: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceGAHawaii: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceHITexas: median $15,001 across 36 hospitalsTX$15,001Florida: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $18,424. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA37$48,468+163%$33,254 – $48,468
Texas TX36$15,001−19%$15,001 – $15,001
Indiana IN12$4,926−73%$4,336 – $6,658
Florida FL8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Ohio OH4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New York NY3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Pennsylvania PA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Michigan MI2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Jersey NJ2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oklahoma OK2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wisconsin WI2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR1not enough hospitals filed a usable price

Hospitals like yours

The same distribution cut by the kind of hospital. Hospital type and ownership come from CMS; a hospital counts as part of a system when its price file is shared with at least one other hospital under the same brand. The national median is $18,424.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care132$19,155$15,001 – $40,664
Children’s3fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access9fewer than 20 hospitals
Ownership
For-profit15fewer than 20 hospitals
Government8fewer than 20 hospitals
Non-profit121$18,424$15,001 – $35,680
System affiliation
Part of a system139$18,424$15,001 – $39,301
Independent6fewer than 20 hospitals

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$27,849
Median cash price$18,424
Cash as a share of list, median hospital56%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 44%. The share is the median of each hospital’s own cash ÷ list ratio, over hospitals that filed both — not the ratio of the two medians above.

The same procedure, inpatient

112 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $18,424 and the average of the middle 60% is $21,330; most fall between $15,001 and $33,254.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 112 hospitals. Each figure is a price a hospital filed. 10th: one in ten hospitals charges less; 25th: a quarter charge less; Median: half charge less; 75th: three quarters charge less; 90th: nine in ten charge less.
10th25thMedian75th90th
$12,919$15,001$18,424$33,254$48,468

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 3.8× what the cheapest tenth charges ($12,919 vs $48,468).

Of the 120 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 112 gave a usable cash price; 4 carried a plausibility flag, 2 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 2 a list price only.

How complete is this

145 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (4%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 158 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted145
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here8
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded2
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded1
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded2
Hospitals that filed this code158

Sections not shown for this setting

  • Since our last snapshot: there is no earlier snapshot at least 90 days older than this one yet.

We last checked these hospitals’ price files for changes between September 5, 2026 and September 23, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 23, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Related procedures

Part of the Other non-OR gastrointestinal therapeutic procedures family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Histotripsy Mal Hepatocellular Tiss W/Img Gdn.

Method

Source
The machine-readable price files every U.S. hospital is required by CMS to publish, parsed per hospital. Nothing is surveyed, sampled or modelled.
What counts
One cash (self-pay) price per hospital for this code and setting. A hospital’s own filing can rule its number out — a placeholder, a “not applicable” note, a list price standing in for cash — and our plausibility checks can flag a price far below what every other hospital files. Both kinds are disclosed above and excluded from the statistics; on the compare tool a flagged price is still shown.
Statistics
Percentiles are discrete: each is a price some hospital filed. The average is the mean of the prices between the 20th and 80th percentiles. We never publish the plain mean, the minimum or the maximum. A state needs 10 hospitals and a segment 20 to show a figure; otherwise the row shows its count and no number. Medicare is the national unadjusted OPPS rate where one exists.
Names
Procedure names on these pages are our own plain-language titles, not the AMA’s copyrighted CPT descriptors. The code is the identity.

The full rules — sources, statistics, thresholds, limitations — are on the methodology page.

Download this page’s figures: JSON · CSV. Aggregates only — the per-hospital prices are on the compare tool.

Cite: HospitalRates.com, “Focused sound wave destruction of a liver tumor (CPT 0686T) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-0686t-focused-sound-wave-destruction-of-a-liver-tumor