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Procedure price report · Excision of skin lesion

Needle drainage of an abscess, cyst, blister or blood pocket

CPT 10160the billing code this page is about

A needle is inserted through the skin to draw out fluid from an abscess, hematoma, blister or cyst, without making a surgical cut.

Hospitals typically charge $390 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 3,053 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $411. Most fall between $190 and $734 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
3,053
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 3,053 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
$123$214$390$650$1,112

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.0× what the cheapest tenth charges ($123 vs $1,112).

How the prices are spread

$85 – $114: 117 hospitals$85$114 – $151: 176 hospitals$151 – $202: 236 hospitals$151$202 – $268: 366 hospitals$268 – $357: 357 hospitals$268$357 – $476: 426 hospitals$476 – $633: 413 hospitals$476$633 – $843: 330 hospitals$843 – $1,122: 187 hospitals$843$1,122 – $1,494: 144 hospitals$1,122median $390price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,752 of 3,053 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$85$114117
$114$151176
$151$202236
$202$268366
$268$357357
$357$476426
$476$633413
$633$843330
$843$1,122187
$1,122$1,494144

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$415
Median cash price$390
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.94×

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 $390.

Alaska: median $444 across 17 hospitalsAK$444Maine: median $215 across 23 hospitalsME$215Vermont: median $323 across 12 hospitalsVT$323New Hampshire: median $205 across 19 hospitalsNH$205Washington: median $342 across 75 hospitalsWA$342Idaho: median $407 across 23 hospitalsID$407Montana: median $200 across 30 hospitalsMT$200North Dakota: median $359 across 26 hospitalsND$359Minnesota: median $362 across 99 hospitalsMN$362Illinois: median $398 across 130 hospitalsIL$398Wisconsin: median $340 across 102 hospitalsWI$340Michigan: median $354 across 93 hospitalsMI$354New York: median $483 across 103 hospitalsNY$483Massachusetts: median $400 across 51 hospitalsMA$400Oregon: median $281 across 54 hospitalsOR$281Nevada: median $470 across 20 hospitalsNV$470Wyoming: median $257 across 15 hospitalsWY$257South Dakota: median $357 across 26 hospitalsSD$357Iowa: median $241 across 83 hospitalsIA$241Indiana: median $257 across 72 hospitalsIN$257Ohio: median $468 across 138 hospitalsOH$468Pennsylvania: median $480 across 126 hospitalsPA$480New Jersey: median $533 across 57 hospitalsNJ$533Connecticut: median $448 across 23 hospitalsCT$448Rhode Island: median $453 across 10 hospitalsRI$453California: median $723 across 192 hospitalsCA$723Utah: median $734 across 31 hospitalsUT$734Colorado: median $535 across 64 hospitalsCO$535Nebraska: median $261 across 76 hospitalsNE$261Missouri: median $308 across 75 hospitalsMO$308Kentucky: median $313 across 59 hospitalsKY$313West Virginia: median $390 across 38 hospitalsWV$390Virginia: median $315 across 59 hospitalsVA$315Maryland: median $339 across 14 hospitalsMD$339Delaware: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $210 across 47 hospitalsAZ$210New Mexico: median $335 across 28 hospitalsNM$335Kansas: median $207 across 83 hospitalsKS$207Arkansas: median $216 across 30 hospitalsAR$216Tennessee: median $247 across 61 hospitalsTN$247North Carolina: median $339 across 76 hospitalsNC$339South Carolina: median $525 across 45 hospitalsSC$525Oklahoma: median $253 across 69 hospitalsOK$253Louisiana: median $202 across 50 hospitalsLA$202Mississippi: median $207 across 54 hospitalsMS$207Alabama: median $532 across 40 hospitalsAL$532Georgia: median $761 across 96 hospitalsGA$761Hawaii: median $711 across 19 hospitalsHI$711Texas: median $485 across 201 hospitalsTX$485Florida: median $566 across 112 hospitalsFL$566
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $390. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Georgia GA96$761+95%$225 – $2,121
Utah UT31$734+88%$475 – $863
California CA192$723+85%$327 – $1,494
Hawaii HI19$711+82%$608 – $994
Florida FL112$566+45%$283 – $1,124
Colorado CO64$535+37%$238 – $741
New Jersey NJ57$533+37%$442 – $3,786
Alabama AL40$532+36%$128 – $956
South Carolina SC45$525+35%$206 – $627
Texas TX201$485+24%$277 – $725
New York NY103$483+24%$143 – $911
Pennsylvania PA126$480+23%$183 – $817
Nevada NV20$470+20%$242 – $755
Ohio OH138$468+20%$332 – $779
Rhode Island RI10$453+16%$315 – $618
Connecticut CT23$448+15%$255 – $884
Alaska AK17$444+14%$263 – $767
Idaho ID23$407+4%$188 – $1,117
Massachusetts MA51$400+2%$261 – $637
Illinois IL130$398+2%$190 – $697
West Virginia WV38$3900%$231 – $799
Minnesota MN99$362−7%$188 – $447
North Dakota ND26$359−8%$232 – $460
South Dakota SD26$357−9%$262 – $493
Michigan MI93$354−9%$119 – $559
Washington WA75$342−12%$239 – $573
Wisconsin WI102$340−13%$224 – $502
North Carolina NC76$339−13%$188 – $523
Maryland MD14$339−13%$215 – $739
New Mexico NM28$335−14%$110 – $639
Vermont VT12$323−17%$123 – $734
Virginia VA59$315−19%$254 – $526
Kentucky KY59$313−20%$176 – $1,384
Missouri MO75$308−21%$179 – $725
Oregon OR54$281−28%$192 – $515
Nebraska NE76$261−33%$209 – $343
Indiana IN72$257−34%$164 – $688
Wyoming WY15$257−34%$112 – $323
Oklahoma OK69$253−35%$165 – $467
Tennessee TN61$247−37%$143 – $459
Iowa IA83$241−38%$134 – $451
Arkansas AR30$216−45%$172 – $327
Maine ME23$215−45%$138 – $401
Arizona AZ47$210−46%$148 – $526
Mississippi MS54$207−47%$101 – $717
Kansas KS83$207−47%$122 – $544
New Hampshire NH19$205−47%$112 – $383
Louisiana LA50$202−48%$127 – $374
Montana MT30$200−49%$124 – $294
Delaware DE7not 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 $390.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,127$452$216 – $815
Children’s65$551$327 – $1,759
Critical access852$253$136 – $500
Ownership
For-profit324$513$228 – $1,176
Government596$280$158 – $567
Non-profit2,124$403$199 – $725
System affiliation
Part of a system2,456$411$205 – $755
Independent597$284$150 – $600

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$645
Median cash price$390
Cash as a share of list, median hospital64%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 36%. 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

2,254 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $422 and the average of the middle 60% is $445; most fall between $206 and $779.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,254 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
$138$238$422$704$1,117

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.1× what the cheapest tenth charges ($138 vs $1,117).

Of the 2,415 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,254 gave a usable cash price; 54 carried a plausibility flag, 1 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 106 a list price only.

How complete is this

3,053 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (77%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,272 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted3,053
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here93
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded8
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded117
Hospitals that filed this code3,272

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 July 20, 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 Excision of skin lesion family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Puncture Aspiration Abscess Hematoma Bulla/Cyst.

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, “Needle drainage of an abscess, cyst, blister or blood pocket (CPT 10160) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-10160-needle-drainage-of-an-abscess-cyst-blister-or-blood-pocket