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Procedure price report · Other therapeutic procedures on muscles and tendons

Removal of a deep foreign object from muscle or tendon

CPT 20525the billing code this page is about

Surgical removal of a foreign object embedded deep in muscle or a tendon sheath, or one that is complicated to reach.

Hospitals typically charge $2,521 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,528 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,535. Most fall between $776 and $5,495 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,528
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 1,528 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
$534$882$2,521$4,687$7,566

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 14× what the cheapest tenth charges ($534 vs $7,566).

How the prices are spread

$398 – $547: 92 hospitals$398$547 – $754: 118 hospitals$754 – $1,038: 164 hospitals$754$1,038 – $1,429: 151 hospitals$1,429 – $1,967: 96 hospitals$1,429$1,967 – $2,708: 102 hospitals$2,708 – $3,729: 238 hospitals$2,708$3,729 – $5,134: 155 hospitals$5,134 – $7,068: 157 hospitals$5,134$7,068 – $9,732: 110 hospitals$7,068median $2,521price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,383 of 1,528 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$398$54792
$547$754118
$754$1,038164
$1,038$1,429151
$1,429$1,96796
$1,967$2,708102
$2,708$3,729238
$3,729$5,134155
$5,134$7,068157
$7,068$9,732110

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$2,968
Median cash price$2,521
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 $2,521.

Alaska: median $2,740 across 12 hospitalsAK$2,740Maine: median $634 across 14 hospitalsME$634Vermont: median $662 across 11 hospitalsVT$662New Hampshire: median $590 across 11 hospitalsNH$590Washington: median $1,602 across 59 hospitalsWA$1,602Idaho: median $4,133 across 18 hospitalsID$4,133Montana: median $1,134 across 18 hospitalsMT$1,134North Dakota: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $1,120 across 39 hospitalsMN$1,120Illinois: median $1,515 across 69 hospitalsIL$1,515Wisconsin: median $1,411 across 38 hospitalsWI$1,411Michigan: median $1,528 across 32 hospitalsMI$1,528New York: median $3,387 across 55 hospitalsNY$3,387Massachusetts: median $4,300 across 29 hospitalsMA$4,300Oregon: median $1,319 across 33 hospitalsOR$1,319Nevada: median $1,445 across 11 hospitalsNV$1,445Wyoming: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: median $4,159 across 12 hospitalsSD$4,159Iowa: median $1,154 across 43 hospitalsIA$1,154Indiana: median $1,336 across 23 hospitalsIN$1,336Ohio: median $4,477 across 67 hospitalsOH$4,477Pennsylvania: median $2,969 across 55 hospitalsPA$2,969New Jersey: median $3,820 across 41 hospitalsNJ$3,820Connecticut: median $2,664 across 16 hospitalsCT$2,664Rhode Island: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $4,633 across 94 hospitalsCA$4,633Utah: median $891 across 25 hospitalsUT$891Colorado: median $3,051 across 27 hospitalsCO$3,051Nebraska: median $2,026 across 34 hospitalsNE$2,026Missouri: median $1,030 across 29 hospitalsMO$1,030Kentucky: median $757 across 18 hospitalsKY$757West Virginia: median $2,799 across 25 hospitalsWV$2,799Virginia: median $2,799 across 39 hospitalsVA$2,799Maryland: 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 $9,732 across 17 hospitalsAZ$9,732New Mexico: median $4,500 across 21 hospitalsNM$4,500Kansas: median $765 across 36 hospitalsKS$765Arkansas: median $812 across 17 hospitalsAR$812Tennessee: median $812 across 28 hospitalsTN$812North Carolina: median $1,397 across 33 hospitalsNC$1,397South Carolina: median $6,634 across 25 hospitalsSC$6,634Oklahoma: median $2,472 across 28 hospitalsOK$2,472Louisiana: median $1,955 across 24 hospitalsLA$1,955Mississippi: median $1,062 across 39 hospitalsMS$1,062Alabama: median $1,858 across 22 hospitalsAL$1,858Georgia: median $3,430 across 35 hospitalsGA$3,430Hawaii: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $3,295 across 98 hospitalsTX$3,295Florida: median $5,637 across 69 hospitalsFL$5,637
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $2,521. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Arizona AZ17$9,732+286%$1,703 – $9,732
South Carolina SC25$6,634+163%$4,649 – $7,833
Florida FL69$5,637+124%$1,163 – $10,036
California CA94$4,633+84%$1,505 – $7,566
New Mexico NM21$4,500+79%$1,021 – $7,357
Ohio OH67$4,477+78%$1,887 – $5,756
Massachusetts MA29$4,300+71%$1,523 – $6,876
South Dakota SD12$4,159+65%$1,365 – $6,694
Idaho ID18$4,133+64%$659 – $7,765
New Jersey NJ41$3,820+52%$3,322 – $5,419
Georgia GA35$3,430+36%$925 – $12,223
New York NY55$3,387+34%$688 – $4,050
Texas TX98$3,295+31%$2,782 – $5,165
Colorado CO27$3,051+21%$1,134 – $7,529
Pennsylvania PA55$2,969+18%$463 – $3,737
Virginia VA39$2,799+11%$812 – $5,758
West Virginia WV25$2,799+11%$264 – $3,473
Alaska AK12$2,740+9%$1,888 – $3,229
Connecticut CT16$2,664+6%$1,325 – $4,611
Oklahoma OK28$2,472−2%$530 – $4,496
Nebraska NE34$2,026−20%$932 – $3,431
Louisiana LA24$1,955−22%$1,330 – $3,034
Alabama AL22$1,858−26%$1,259 – $3,617
Washington WA59$1,602−36%$738 – $5,534
Michigan MI32$1,528−39%$633 – $3,994
Illinois IL69$1,515−40%$756 – $3,769
Nevada NV11$1,445−43%$534 – $3,159
Wisconsin WI38$1,411−44%$1,219 – $2,561
North Carolina NC33$1,397−45%$536 – $3,353
Indiana IN23$1,336−47%$438 – $4,461
Oregon OR33$1,319−48%$850 – $1,561
Iowa IA43$1,154−54%$614 – $1,208
Montana MT18$1,134−55%$518 – $2,769
Minnesota MN39$1,120−56%$682 – $1,879
Mississippi MS39$1,062−58%$729 – $2,332
Missouri MO29$1,030−59%$646 – $3,160
Utah UT25$891−65%$831 – $990
Arkansas AR17$812−68%$718 – $3,196
Tennessee TN28$812−68%$766 – $3,736
Kansas KS36$765−70%$519 – $2,576
Kentucky KY18$757−70%$438 – $2,146
Vermont VT11$662−74%$586 – $1,062
Maine ME14$634−75%$256 – $1,360
New Hampshire NH11$590−77%$223 – $733
Hawaii HI9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND8not 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 $2,521.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,078$3,160$939 – $5,912
Children’s27$3,479$864 – $8,942
Critical access419$1,114$579 – $2,782
Ownership
For-profit155$3,717$1,032 – $8,186
Government314$1,400$633 – $3,889
Non-profit1,055$2,619$796 – $5,495
System affiliation
Part of a system1,196$2,814$821 – $5,740
Independent332$1,470$600 – $3,672

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$4,034
Median cash price$2,521
Cash as a share of list, median hospital65%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 35%. 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

1,049 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $2,833 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,927; most fall between $812 and $5,860.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,049 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
$547$945$2,833$5,396$7,824

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 14× what the cheapest tenth charges ($547 vs $7,824).

Of the 1,136 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,049 gave a usable cash price; 34 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 53 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,528 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 1,659 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,528
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here67
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded3
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded61
Hospitals that filed this code1,659

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 therapeutic procedures on muscles and tendons family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Rmvl Foreign Body Muscle/Tendon Sheath Deep/Comp.

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 a deep foreign object from muscle or tendon (CPT 20525) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-20525-removal-of-a-deep-foreign-object-from-muscle-or-tendon