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Procedure price report · Other diagnostic procedures on musculoskeletal system

Open biopsy of a spine bone in the mid back

CPT 20250the billing code this page is about

Through a surgical incision, a tissue sample is taken from a thoracic vertebra for laboratory examination.

Hospitals typically charge $2,849 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 328 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,848. Most fall between $683 and $5,339 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
328
States
44
Filings dated
Jun 2024 – 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 328 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
$477$832$2,849$4,914$9,106

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 19× what the cheapest tenth charges ($477 vs $9,106).

How the prices are spread

$306 – $430: 15 hospitals$306$430 – $607: 8 hospitals$607 – $854: 45 hospitals$607$854 – $1,204: 26 hospitals$1,204 – $1,696: 19 hospitals$1,204$1,696 – $2,390: 33 hospitals$2,390 – $3,367: 13 hospitals$2,390$3,367 – $4,743: 59 hospitals$4,743 – $6,683: 46 hospitals$4,743$6,683 – $9,415: 34 hospitals$6,683median $2,849price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (298 of 328 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$306$43015
$430$6078
$607$85445
$854$1,20426
$1,204$1,69619
$1,696$2,39033
$2,390$3,36713
$3,367$4,74359
$4,743$6,68346
$6,683$9,41534

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$3,343
Median cash price$2,849
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.85×

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 $2,849.

Alaska: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $792 across 14 hospitalsIL$792Wisconsin: median $1,845 across 19 hospitalsWI$1,845Michigan: median $757 across 14 hospitalsMI$757New York: median $3,840 across 21 hospitalsNY$3,840Massachusetts: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: median $989 across 11 hospitalsOR$989Nevada: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $951 across 14 hospitalsIA$951Indiana: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureINOhio: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureOHPennsylvania: median $1,876 across 19 hospitalsPA$1,876New Jersey: median $4,330 across 29 hospitalsNJ$4,330Connecticut: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $9,106 across 44 hospitalsCA$9,106Utah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $641 across 12 hospitalsOK$641Louisiana: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMSAlabama: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $4,592 across 22 hospitalsTX$4,592Florida: median $9,496 across 13 hospitalsFL$9,496
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $2,849. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Florida FL13$9,496+233%$1,349 – $16,550
California CA44$9,106+220%$4,914 – $9,106
Texas TX22$4,592+61%$2,653 – $4,960
New Jersey NJ29$4,330+52%$3,594 – $5,741
New York NY21$3,840+35%$1,190 – $3,840
Pennsylvania PA19$1,876−34%$243 – $5,486
Wisconsin WI19$1,845−35%$1,845 – $1,885
Oregon OR11$989−65%$726 – $1,273
Iowa IA14$951−67%$951 – $951
Illinois IL14$792−72%$306 – $5,116
Michigan MI14$757−73%$662 – $4,499
Oklahoma OK12$641−77%$641 – $641
Ohio OH8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Georgia GA6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Indiana IN1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD1not 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 $2,849.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care280$3,591$683 – $5,486
Children’s6fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access41$1,845$662 – $4,592
Ownership
For-profit36$2,975$656 – $8,158
Government41$2,960$701 – $4,015
Non-profit250$2,347$689 – $5,339
System affiliation
Part of a system273$3,594$726 – $6,307
Independent55$1,162$641 – $3,553

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,838
Median cash price$2,849
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

206 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $2,064 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,897; most fall between $662 and $6,730.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 206 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
$466$726$2,064$5,486$9,106

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 20× what the cheapest tenth charges ($466 vs $9,106).

Of the 222 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 206 gave a usable cash price; 13 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 3 a list price only.

How complete is this

328 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (8%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 352 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted328
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here19
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded4
Hospitals that filed this code352

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 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 diagnostic procedures on musculoskeletal system family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Biopsy Vertebral Body Open Thoracic.

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, “Open biopsy of a spine bone in the mid back (CPT 20250) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-20250-open-biopsy-of-a-spine-bone-in-the-mid-back