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Procedure price report · Injections and aspirations of muscles, tendons, bursa, joints and soft tissue

Injection where a tendon attaches to bone

CPT 20551the billing code this page is about

Injection of medication at the origin or insertion point of a tendon, such as for tennis elbow.

Hospitals typically charge $309 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,160 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $331. Most fall between $115 and $639 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,160
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 2,160 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
$72$139$309$564$889

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($72 vs $889).

How the prices are spread

$53 – $73: 114 hospitals$53$73 – $101: 147 hospitals$101 – $139: 168 hospitals$101$139 – $191: 191 hospitals$191 – $262: 180 hospitals$191$262 – $361: 321 hospitals$361 – $496: 269 hospitals$361$496 – $683: 285 hospitals$683 – $940: 179 hospitals$683$940 – $1,293: 91 hospitals$940median $309price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,945 of 2,160 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$53$73114
$73$101147
$101$139168
$139$191191
$191$262180
$262$361321
$361$496269
$496$683285
$683$940179
$940$1,29391

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$314
Median cash price$309
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.99×

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 $309.

Alaska: median $326 across 11 hospitalsAK$326Maine: median $163 across 19 hospitalsME$163Vermont: median $120 across 12 hospitalsVT$120New Hampshire: median $95 across 14 hospitalsNH$95Washington: median $302 across 65 hospitalsWA$302Idaho: median $173 across 20 hospitalsID$173Montana: median $130 across 25 hospitalsMT$130North Dakota: median $162 across 19 hospitalsND$162Minnesota: median $270 across 82 hospitalsMN$270Illinois: median $296 across 87 hospitalsIL$296Wisconsin: median $265 across 83 hospitalsWI$265Michigan: median $326 across 71 hospitalsMI$326New York: median $349 across 84 hospitalsNY$349Massachusetts: median $459 across 42 hospitalsMA$459Oregon: median $110 across 49 hospitalsOR$110Nevada: median $208 across 13 hospitalsNV$208Wyoming: median $190 across 10 hospitalsWY$190South Dakota: median $201 across 18 hospitalsSD$201Iowa: median $139 across 66 hospitalsIA$139Indiana: median $239 across 49 hospitalsIN$239Ohio: median $488 across 108 hospitalsOH$488Pennsylvania: median $333 across 95 hospitalsPA$333New Jersey: median $857 across 52 hospitalsNJ$857Connecticut: median $477 across 15 hospitalsCT$477Rhode Island: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $621 across 128 hospitalsCA$621Utah: median $636 across 27 hospitalsUT$636Colorado: median $208 across 49 hospitalsCO$208Nebraska: median $157 across 65 hospitalsNE$157Missouri: median $260 across 59 hospitalsMO$260Kentucky: median $437 across 40 hospitalsKY$437West Virginia: median $317 across 35 hospitalsWV$317Virginia: median $314 across 41 hospitalsVA$314Maryland: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $207 across 17 hospitalsAZ$207New Mexico: median $286 across 12 hospitalsNM$286Kansas: median $137 across 65 hospitalsKS$137Arkansas: median $322 across 11 hospitalsAR$322Tennessee: median $57 across 25 hospitalsTN$57North Carolina: median $239 across 42 hospitalsNC$239South Carolina: median $683 across 38 hospitalsSC$683Oklahoma: median $102 across 30 hospitalsOK$102Louisiana: median $112 across 32 hospitalsLA$112Mississippi: median $154 across 32 hospitalsMS$154Alabama: median $298 across 22 hospitalsAL$298Georgia: median $725 across 66 hospitalsGA$725Hawaii: median $278 across 11 hospitalsHI$278Texas: median $431 across 117 hospitalsTX$431Florida: median $544 across 70 hospitalsFL$544
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $309. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
New Jersey NJ52$857+177%$327 – $4,350
Georgia GA66$725+134%$434 – $889
South Carolina SC38$683+121%$463 – $965
Utah UT27$636+106%$532 – $707
California CA128$621+101%$357 – $969
Florida FL70$544+76%$281 – $844
Ohio OH108$488+58%$265 – $883
Connecticut CT15$477+54%$160 – $631
Massachusetts MA42$459+48%$216 – $626
Kentucky KY40$437+41%$59 – $1,406
Texas TX117$431+39%$183 – $546
New York NY84$349+13%$114 – $639
Pennsylvania PA95$333+8%$146 – $556
Michigan MI71$326+5%$177 – $752
Alaska AK11$326+5%$187 – $356
Arkansas AR11$322+4%$138 – $565
West Virginia WV35$317+2%$140 – $548
Virginia VA41$314+1%$136 – $473
Washington WA65$302−2%$114 – $489
Alabama AL22$298−4%$191 – $490
Illinois IL87$296−4%$139 – $616
New Mexico NM12$286−8%$127 – $462
Hawaii HI11$278−10%$67 – $677
Minnesota MN82$270−13%$93 – $396
Wisconsin WI83$265−14%$164 – $444
Missouri MO59$260−16%$107 – $510
North Carolina NC42$239−23%$125 – $421
Indiana IN49$239−23%$136 – $538
Nevada NV13$208−33%$155 – $361
Colorado CO49$208−33%$125 – $668
Arizona AZ17$207−33%$82 – $832
South Dakota SD18$201−35%$158 – $312
Wyoming WY10$190−38%$120 – $300
Idaho ID20$173−44%$109 – $672
Maine ME19$163−47%$69 – $295
North Dakota ND19$162−48%$68 – $303
Nebraska NE65$157−49%$92 – $266
Mississippi MS32$154−50%$88 – $248
Iowa IA66$139−55%$83 – $235
Kansas KS65$137−56%$81 – $283
Montana MT25$130−58%$58 – $189
Vermont VT12$120−61%$85 – $149
Louisiana LA32$112−64%$80 – $448
Oregon OR49$110−64%$63 – $412
Oklahoma OK30$102−67%$71 – $488
New Hampshire NH14$95−69%$51 – $266
Tennessee TN25$57−82%$56 – $326
Maryland MD7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE4not 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 $309.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,505$383$164 – $725
Children’s35$738$204 – $1,385
Critical access614$155$78 – $356
Ownership
For-profit178$414$149 – $832
Government431$187$92 – $412
Non-profit1,545$333$132 – $663
System affiliation
Part of a system1,734$334$132 – $682
Independent426$187$81 – $477

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$523
Median cash price$309
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

1,485 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $358 and the average of the middle 60% is $376; most fall between $139 and $683.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,485 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
$80$173$358$604$901

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 11× what the cheapest tenth charges ($80 vs $901).

Of the 1,599 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,485 gave a usable cash price; 41 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 73 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,160 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (55%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 2,320 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,160
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here77
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded2
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded81
Hospitals that filed this code2,320

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 Injections and aspirations of muscles, tendons, bursa, joints and soft tissue family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as PR Inject Tendon Origin/Insert.

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, “Injection where a tendon attaches to bone (CPT 20551) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-20551-injection-where-a-tendon-attaches-to-bone