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Procedure price report · Other non-OR therapeutic procedures on skin and breast

Image-guided drainage of a fluid pocket with a catheter

CPT 10030the billing code this page is about

A needle and drainage tube are placed through the skin, using imaging for guidance, to drain a collection of fluid such as an abscess or seroma in soft tissue; billed per collection drained.

Hospitals typically charge $1,141 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,198 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,263. Most fall between $595 and $2,395 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,198
States
50
Filings dated
Aug 2022 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 24, 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 2,198 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
$373$693$1,141$2,141$3,445

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.2× what the cheapest tenth charges ($373 vs $3,445).

How the prices are spread

$239 – $325: 74 hospitals$239$325 – $442: 94 hospitals$442 – $602: 168 hospitals$442$602 – $819: 256 hospitals$819 – $1,115: 381 hospitals$819$1,115 – $1,518: 285 hospitals$1,518 – $2,067: 262 hospitals$1,518$2,067 – $2,814: 225 hospitals$2,814 – $3,831: 152 hospitals$2,814$3,831 – $5,215: 83 hospitals$3,831median $1,141price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,980 of 2,198 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$239$32574
$325$44294
$442$602168
$602$819256
$819$1,115381
$1,115$1,518285
$1,518$2,067262
$2,067$2,814225
$2,814$3,831152
$3,831$5,21583

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$723
Median cash price$1,141
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.58×

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 $1,141.

Alaska: median $1,298 across 12 hospitalsAK$1,298Maine: median $863 across 10 hospitalsME$863Vermont: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $645 across 15 hospitalsNH$645Washington: median $1,352 across 56 hospitalsWA$1,352Idaho: median $1,783 across 17 hospitalsID$1,783Montana: median $815 across 20 hospitalsMT$815North Dakota: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $1,046 across 61 hospitalsMN$1,046Illinois: median $952 across 84 hospitalsIL$952Wisconsin: median $1,175 across 81 hospitalsWI$1,175Michigan: median $868 across 76 hospitalsMI$868New York: median $999 across 77 hospitalsNY$999Massachusetts: median $888 across 45 hospitalsMA$888Oregon: median $1,505 across 43 hospitalsOR$1,505Nevada: median $770 across 12 hospitalsNV$770Wyoming: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: median $1,979 across 11 hospitalsSD$1,979Iowa: median $1,227 across 31 hospitalsIA$1,227Indiana: median $1,819 across 63 hospitalsIN$1,819Ohio: median $1,312 across 123 hospitalsOH$1,312Pennsylvania: median $1,085 across 108 hospitalsPA$1,085New Jersey: median $939 across 56 hospitalsNJ$939Connecticut: median $1,186 across 19 hospitalsCT$1,186Rhode Island: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $1,706 across 172 hospitalsCA$1,706Utah: median $2,928 across 26 hospitalsUT$2,928Colorado: median $2,874 across 44 hospitalsCO$2,874Nebraska: median $1,234 across 29 hospitalsNE$1,234Missouri: median $947 across 53 hospitalsMO$947Kentucky: median $1,217 across 24 hospitalsKY$1,217West Virginia: median $730 across 25 hospitalsWV$730Virginia: median $1,315 across 41 hospitalsVA$1,315Maryland: median $775 across 11 hospitalsMD$775Delaware: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $958 across 41 hospitalsAZ$958New Mexico: median $906 across 10 hospitalsNM$906Kansas: median $898 across 31 hospitalsKS$898Arkansas: median $697 across 16 hospitalsAR$697Tennessee: median $517 across 47 hospitalsTN$517North Carolina: median $1,140 across 55 hospitalsNC$1,140South Carolina: median $923 across 40 hospitalsSC$923Oklahoma: median $616 across 34 hospitalsOK$616Louisiana: median $522 across 35 hospitalsLA$522Mississippi: median $638 across 41 hospitalsMS$638Alabama: median $996 across 30 hospitalsAL$996Georgia: median $2,074 across 66 hospitalsGA$2,074Hawaii: median $1,501 across 14 hospitalsHI$1,501Texas: median $1,198 across 152 hospitalsTX$1,198Florida: median $1,715 across 106 hospitalsFL$1,715
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,141. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Utah UT26$2,928+157%$2,928 – $3,445
Colorado CO44$2,874+152%$817 – $4,036
Georgia GA66$2,074+82%$703 – $5,400
South Dakota SD11$1,979+73%$1,979 – $3,492
Indiana IN63$1,819+59%$745 – $3,911
Idaho ID17$1,783+56%$853 – $1,898
Florida FL106$1,715+50%$889 – $2,952
California CA172$1,706+49%$820 – $3,315
Oregon OR43$1,505+32%$455 – $2,785
Hawaii HI14$1,501+32%$831 – $1,968
Washington WA56$1,352+18%$434 – $2,551
Virginia VA41$1,315+15%$619 – $2,323
Ohio OH123$1,312+15%$542 – $2,323
Alaska AK12$1,298+14%$555 – $2,350
Nebraska NE29$1,234+8%$729 – $2,625
Iowa IA31$1,227+7%$829 – $1,999
Kentucky KY24$1,217+7%$794 – $2,504
Texas TX152$1,198+5%$632 – $2,270
Connecticut CT19$1,186+4%$708 – $2,417
Wisconsin WI81$1,175+3%$575 – $1,664
North Carolina NC55$1,1400%$559 – $1,660
Pennsylvania PA108$1,085−5%$585 – $2,183
Minnesota MN61$1,046−8%$729 – $1,848
New York NY77$999−12%$659 – $1,875
Alabama AL30$996−13%$701 – $2,310
Arizona AZ41$958−16%$746 – $2,874
Illinois IL84$952−17%$492 – $2,221
Missouri MO53$947−17%$685 – $1,928
New Jersey NJ56$939−18%$779 – $4,350
South Carolina SC40$923−19%$550 – $2,704
New Mexico NM10$906−21%$407 – $1,514
Kansas KS31$898−21%$540 – $1,690
Massachusetts MA45$888−22%$553 – $2,185
Michigan MI76$868−24%$678 – $1,912
Maine ME10$863−24%$465 – $1,004
Montana MT20$815−29%$192 – $1,016
Maryland MD11$775−32%$577 – $2,746
Nevada NV12$770−33%$323 – $2,711
West Virginia WV25$730−36%$143 – $1,156
Arkansas AR16$697−39%$443 – $968
New Hampshire NH15$645−44%$173 – $1,450
Mississippi MS41$638−44%$397 – $856
Oklahoma OK34$616−46%$441 – $1,893
Louisiana LA35$522−54%$233 – $1,423
Tennessee TN47$517−55%$352 – $1,061
North Dakota ND8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY4not 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 $1,141.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,836$1,175$632 – $2,488
Children’s49$1,438$542 – $4,622
Critical access304$926$476 – $1,936
Ownership
For-profit237$1,290$611 – $2,923
Government287$1,026$568 – $2,074
Non-profit1,665$1,144$589 – $2,416
System affiliation
Part of a system1,849$1,172$632 – $2,497
Independent349$997$476 – $1,910

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,111
Median cash price$1,141
Cash as a share of list, median hospital60%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 40%. 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

1,698 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,226 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,359; most fall between $632 and $2,504.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,698 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
$407$725$1,226$2,247$3,445

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.5× what the cheapest tenth charges ($407 vs $3,445).

Of the 1,812 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,698 gave a usable cash price; 35 carried a plausibility flag, 1 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 78 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,198 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (56%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 2,360 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,198
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here68
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded7
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded86
Hospitals that filed this code2,360

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 4, 2026 and September 24, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 24, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Related procedures

Part of the Other non-OR therapeutic procedures on skin and breast family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Img-Guided Flu Collj Drg Cath Soft Tiss Perq.

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, “Image-guided drainage of a fluid pocket with a catheter (CPT 10030) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-10030-image-guided-drainage-of-a-fluid-pocket-with-a-catheter