HRHospitalRates.comCompare prices

Procedure price report · Other diagnostic procedures on musculoskeletal system

Contrast injection into a draining tract for X-ray study

CPT 20501the billing code this page is about

Injection of contrast dye into a sinus tract or fistula so it can be seen on X-ray images; covers the injection itself, not the imaging.

Hospitals typically charge $350 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,872 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $388. Most fall between $157 and $790 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,872
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 1,872 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
$91$197$350$701$1,090

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($91 vs $1,090).

How the prices are spread

$58 – $81: 67 hospitals$58$81 – $113: 90 hospitals$113 – $159: 137 hospitals$113$159 – $222: 211 hospitals$222 – $312: 267 hospitals$222$312 – $437: 243 hospitals$437 – $613: 223 hospitals$437$613 – $859: 223 hospitals$859 – $1,204: 162 hospitals$859$1,204 – $1,688: 63 hospitals$1,204median $350price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,686 of 1,872 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$58$8167
$81$11390
$113$159137
$159$222211
$222$312267
$312$437243
$437$613223
$613$859223
$859$1,204162
$1,204$1,68863

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $350.

Alaska: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $222 across 11 hospitalsME$222Vermont: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $73 across 10 hospitalsNH$73Washington: median $482 across 44 hospitalsWA$482Idaho: median $777 across 12 hospitalsID$777Montana: median $204 across 10 hospitalsMT$204North Dakota: median $202 across 11 hospitalsND$202Minnesota: median $359 across 52 hospitalsMN$359Illinois: median $380 across 81 hospitalsIL$380Wisconsin: median $380 across 82 hospitalsWI$380Michigan: median $373 across 64 hospitalsMI$373New York: median $307 across 55 hospitalsNY$307Massachusetts: median $232 across 24 hospitalsMA$232Oregon: median $228 across 37 hospitalsOR$228Nevada: median $323 across 11 hospitalsNV$323Wyoming: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $393 across 38 hospitalsIA$393Indiana: median $263 across 63 hospitalsIN$263Ohio: median $600 across 115 hospitalsOH$600Pennsylvania: median $337 across 91 hospitalsPA$337New Jersey: median $1,083 across 41 hospitalsNJ$1,083Connecticut: median $425 across 16 hospitalsCT$425Rhode Island: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $656 across 141 hospitalsCA$656Utah: median $920 across 26 hospitalsUT$920Colorado: median $322 across 43 hospitalsCO$322Nebraska: median $237 across 19 hospitalsNE$237Missouri: median $339 across 38 hospitalsMO$339Kentucky: median $201 across 19 hospitalsKY$201West Virginia: median $217 across 21 hospitalsWV$217Virginia: median $244 across 42 hospitalsVA$244Maryland: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $114 across 32 hospitalsAZ$114New Mexico: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $300 across 21 hospitalsKS$300Arkansas: median $202 across 17 hospitalsAR$202Tennessee: median $89 across 38 hospitalsTN$89North Carolina: median $302 across 55 hospitalsNC$302South Carolina: median $387 across 36 hospitalsSC$387Oklahoma: median $230 across 34 hospitalsOK$230Louisiana: median $169 across 33 hospitalsLA$169Mississippi: median $159 across 22 hospitalsMS$159Alabama: median $288 across 20 hospitalsAL$288Georgia: median $607 across 59 hospitalsGA$607Hawaii: median $134 across 12 hospitalsHI$134Texas: median $440 across 148 hospitalsTX$440Florida: median $418 across 83 hospitalsFL$418
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $350. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
New Jersey NJ41$1,083+210%$116 – $4,627
Utah UT26$920+163%$920 – $1,083
Idaho ID12$777+122%$447 – $1,048
California CA141$656+88%$246 – $958
Georgia GA59$607+74%$231 – $737
Ohio OH115$600+72%$223 – $1,140
Washington WA44$482+38%$200 – $718
Texas TX148$440+26%$238 – $701
Connecticut CT16$425+22%$375 – $505
Florida FL83$418+20%$153 – $917
Iowa IA38$393+12%$227 – $504
South Carolina SC36$387+11%$235 – $783
Illinois IL81$380+9%$173 – $731
Wisconsin WI82$380+9%$250 – $623
Michigan MI64$373+7%$219 – $675
Minnesota MN52$359+3%$207 – $662
Missouri MO38$339−3%$160 – $526
Pennsylvania PA91$337−4%$124 – $1,326
Nevada NV11$323−8%$112 – $554
Colorado CO43$322−8%$108 – $462
New York NY55$307−12%$91 – $884
North Carolina NC55$302−14%$186 – $365
Kansas KS21$300−14%$174 – $376
Alabama AL20$288−18%$65 – $587
Indiana IN63$263−25%$158 – $637
Virginia VA42$244−30%$203 – $876
Nebraska NE19$237−32%$157 – $328
Massachusetts MA24$232−34%$74 – $1,133
Oklahoma OK34$230−34%$139 – $577
Oregon OR37$228−35%$158 – $579
Maine ME11$222−36%$173 – $381
West Virginia WV21$217−38%$40 – $280
Montana MT10$204−42%$76 – $266
North Dakota ND11$202−42%$112 – $235
Arkansas AR17$202−42%$142 – $324
Kentucky KY19$201−43%$82 – $765
Louisiana LA33$169−52%$62 – $454
Mississippi MS22$159−55%$68 – $466
Hawaii HI12$134−62%$116 – $177
Arizona AZ32$114−67%$84 – $1,918
Tennessee TN38$89−75%$55 – $203
New Hampshire NH10$73−79%$48 – $152
South Dakota SD9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT3not 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 $350.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,563$361$158 – $814
Children’s42$457$200 – $1,224
Critical access258$270$139 – $623
Ownership
For-profit156$457$166 – $1,090
Government258$283$125 – $587
Non-profit1,449$354$159 – $814
System affiliation
Part of a system1,593$361$164 – $814
Independent279$300$116 – $721

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$618
Median cash price$350
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

1,489 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $380 and the average of the middle 60% is $410; most fall between $166 and $843.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,489 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
$98$203$380$708$1,116

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 11× what the cheapest tenth charges ($98 vs $1,116).

Of the 1,596 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,489 gave a usable cash price; 30 carried a plausibility flag, 1 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 76 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,872 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (47%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 2,059 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,872
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here58
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 — excluded128
Hospitals that filed this code2,059

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 diagnostic procedures on musculoskeletal system family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as PR Inject Sinus Tract for Dx W Xray.

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, “Contrast injection into a draining tract for X-ray study (CPT 20501) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-20501-contrast-injection-into-a-draining-tract-for-x-ray-study