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Procedure price report · Other therapeutic procedures

Removal of stitches or staples without anesthesia

CPT 15853the billing code this page is about

Taking out surgical sutures or staples from a healed wound without the need for anesthesia; this add-on charge is billed along with the office or clinic visit at which the removal is done.

Hospitals typically charge $44 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,546 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $64. Most fall between $19 and $196 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,546
States
50
Filings dated
Jan 2024 – 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 1,546 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
$13$21$44$146$470

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 36× what the cheapest tenth charges ($13 vs $470).

How the prices are spread

$10 – $15: 144 hospitals$10$15 – $23: 217 hospitals$23 – $36: 267 hospitals$23$36 – $55: 146 hospitals$55 – $84: 119 hospitals$55$84 – $129: 132 hospitals$129 – $199: 138 hospitals$129$199 – $305: 111 hospitals$305 – $468: 40 hospitals$305$468 – $718: 79 hospitals$468median $44price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,393 of 1,546 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$10$15144
$15$23217
$23$36267
$36$55146
$55$84119
$84$129132
$129$199138
$199$305111
$305$46840
$468$71879

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $44.

Alaska: median $43 across 13 hospitalsAK$43Maine: median $13 across 11 hospitalsME$13Vermont: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $20 across 12 hospitalsNH$20Washington: median $27 across 47 hospitalsWA$27Idaho: median $27 across 14 hospitalsID$27Montana: median $18 across 20 hospitalsMT$18North Dakota: median $30 across 12 hospitalsND$30Minnesota: median $36 across 45 hospitalsMN$36Illinois: median $38 across 60 hospitalsIL$38Wisconsin: median $30 across 50 hospitalsWI$30Michigan: median $28 across 62 hospitalsMI$28New York: median $28 across 67 hospitalsNY$28Massachusetts: median $80 across 27 hospitalsMA$80Oregon: median $29 across 39 hospitalsOR$29Nevada: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: median $29 across 10 hospitalsWY$29South Dakota: median $16 across 10 hospitalsSD$16Iowa: median $29 across 43 hospitalsIA$29Indiana: median $27 across 38 hospitalsIN$27Ohio: median $118 across 88 hospitalsOH$118Pennsylvania: median $26 across 66 hospitalsPA$26New Jersey: median $3,786 across 23 hospitalsNJ$3,786Connecticut: median $65 across 10 hospitalsCT$65Rhode Island: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $144 across 104 hospitalsCA$144Utah: median $221 across 23 hospitalsUT$221Colorado: median $48 across 26 hospitalsCO$48Nebraska: median $31 across 25 hospitalsNE$31Missouri: median $18 across 34 hospitalsMO$18Kentucky: median $58 across 31 hospitalsKY$58West Virginia: median $95 across 28 hospitalsWV$95Virginia: median $289 across 38 hospitalsVA$289Maryland: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $36 across 31 hospitalsAZ$36New Mexico: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $23 across 25 hospitalsKS$23Arkansas: median $63 across 18 hospitalsAR$63Tennessee: median $60 across 25 hospitalsTN$60North Carolina: median $26 across 18 hospitalsNC$26South Carolina: median $175 across 25 hospitalsSC$175Oklahoma: median $25 across 29 hospitalsOK$25Louisiana: median $11 across 27 hospitalsLA$11Mississippi: median $63 across 36 hospitalsMS$63Alabama: median $126 across 15 hospitalsAL$126Georgia: median $64 across 39 hospitalsGA$64Hawaii: median $34 across 11 hospitalsHI$34Texas: median $281 across 73 hospitalsTX$281Florida: median $134 across 62 hospitalsFL$134
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $44. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
New Jersey NJ23$3,786+8505%$115 – $5,419
Virginia VA38$289+556%$28 – $575
Texas TX73$281+538%$36 – $1,171
Utah UT23$221+402%$221 – $246
South Carolina SC25$175+297%$18 – $3,787
California CA104$144+226%$31 – $376
Florida FL62$134+205%$15 – $493
Alabama AL15$126+186%$21 – $146
Ohio OH88$118+169%$37 – $329
West Virginia WV28$95+116%$19 – $261
Massachusetts MA27$80+82%$20 – $202
Connecticut CT10$65+48%$20 – $196
Georgia GA39$64+45%$37 – $115
Arkansas AR18$63+43%$50 – $293
Mississippi MS36$63+42%$17 – $120
Tennessee TN25$60+36%$16 – $162
Kentucky KY31$58+31%$19 – $183
Colorado CO26$48+10%$6 – $148
Alaska AK13$43−3%$31 – $71
Illinois IL60$38−13%$19 – $116
Arizona AZ31$36−18%$13 – $67
Minnesota MN45$36−19%$18 – $92
Hawaii HI11$34−22%$26 – $74
Nebraska NE25$31−30%$19 – $125
Wisconsin WI50$30−31%$25 – $73
North Dakota ND12$30−32%$20 – $113
Wyoming WY10$29−34%$21 – $52
Iowa IA43$29−35%$17 – $47
Oregon OR39$29−35%$21 – $58
New York NY67$28−36%$17 – $212
Michigan MI62$28−36%$12 – $95
Washington WA47$27−38%$23 – $71
Idaho ID14$27−38%$21 – $29
Indiana IN38$27−39%$19 – $51
Pennsylvania PA66$26−40%$19 – $187
North Carolina NC18$26−41%$9 – $50
Oklahoma OK29$25−43%$10 – $105
Kansas KS25$23−48%$12 – $45
New Hampshire NH12$20−55%$15 – $37
Missouri MO34$18−59%$7 – $120
Montana MT20$18−60%$17 – $34
South Dakota SD10$16−63%$15 – $37
Maine ME11$13−71%$9 – $21
Louisiana LA27$11−75%$7 – $73
New Mexico NM8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD3not 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 $44.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,108$55$19 – $246
Children’s28$98$40 – $336
Critical access405$30$18 – $99
Ownership
For-profit129$55$19 – $240
Government256$34$18 – $127
Non-profit1,156$46$19 – $221
System affiliation
Part of a system1,292$50$19 – $221
Independent254$28$17 – $90

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$70
Median cash price$44
Cash as a share of list, median hospital63%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 37%. 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

1,164 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $48 and the average of the middle 60% is $70; most fall between $20 and $220.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,164 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
$14$23$48$163$470

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 34× what the cheapest tenth charges ($14 vs $470).

Of the 1,247 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,164 gave a usable cash price; 31 carried a plausibility flag, 11 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 41 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,546 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (39%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,700 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,546
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here63
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded12
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded79
Hospitals that filed this code1,700

Sections not shown for this setting

  • Against Medicare: Medicare has no separately payable national outpatient (OPPS) rate for this code, so there is nothing honest to compare against.
  • 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 therapeutic procedures family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Removal Sutures/Staples Not Requiring Anesthesia.

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, “Removal of stitches or staples without anesthesia (CPT 15853) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-15853-removal-of-stitches-or-staples-without-anesthesia