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Procedure price report · Arthrocentesis

Fluid removal or injection, small joint, no imaging guidance

CPT 20600the billing code this page is about

Draining fluid from or injecting medication into a small joint or fluid sac such as a finger or toe joint, done without ultrasound guidance.

Hospitals typically charge $324 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,888 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $334. Most fall between $112 and $635 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,888
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 2,888 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$138$324$551$936

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 13× what the cheapest tenth charges ($72 vs $936).

How the prices are spread

$48 – $68: 119 hospitals$48$68 – $95: 203 hospitals$95 – $134: 230 hospitals$95$134 – $188: 218 hospitals$188 – $263: 267 hospitals$188$263 – $369: 461 hospitals$369 – $518: 446 hospitals$369$518 – $726: 329 hospitals$726 – $1,018: 203 hospitals$726$1,018 – $1,428: 126 hospitals$1,018median $324price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,602 of 2,888 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$48$68119
$68$95203
$95$134230
$134$188218
$188$263267
$263$369461
$369$518446
$518$726329
$726$1,018203
$1,018$1,428126

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$314
Median cash price$324
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.03×

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 $324.

Alaska: median $293 across 16 hospitalsAK$293Maine: median $201 across 23 hospitalsME$201Vermont: median $237 across 13 hospitalsVT$237New Hampshire: median $84 across 19 hospitalsNH$84Washington: median $342 across 70 hospitalsWA$342Idaho: median $311 across 24 hospitalsID$311Montana: median $79 across 28 hospitalsMT$79North Dakota: median $156 across 26 hospitalsND$156Minnesota: median $300 across 105 hospitalsMN$300Illinois: median $296 across 123 hospitalsIL$296Wisconsin: median $283 across 102 hospitalsWI$283Michigan: median $338 across 87 hospitalsMI$338New York: median $364 across 109 hospitalsNY$364Massachusetts: median $494 across 45 hospitalsMA$494Oregon: median $107 across 54 hospitalsOR$107Nevada: median $333 across 16 hospitalsNV$333Wyoming: median $164 across 14 hospitalsWY$164South Dakota: median $193 across 23 hospitalsSD$193Iowa: median $166 across 83 hospitalsIA$166Indiana: median $206 across 64 hospitalsIN$206Ohio: median $494 across 137 hospitalsOH$494Pennsylvania: median $355 across 122 hospitalsPA$355New Jersey: median $397 across 57 hospitalsNJ$397Connecticut: median $455 across 20 hospitalsCT$455Rhode Island: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $728 across 166 hospitalsCA$728Utah: median $490 across 33 hospitalsUT$490Colorado: median $313 across 64 hospitalsCO$313Nebraska: median $136 across 74 hospitalsNE$136Missouri: median $247 across 75 hospitalsMO$247Kentucky: median $300 across 48 hospitalsKY$300West Virginia: median $306 across 40 hospitalsWV$306Virginia: median $366 across 57 hospitalsVA$366Maryland: median $192 across 10 hospitalsMD$192Delaware: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $348 across 46 hospitalsAZ$348New Mexico: median $355 across 25 hospitalsNM$355Kansas: median $115 across 82 hospitalsKS$115Arkansas: median $159 across 30 hospitalsAR$159Tennessee: median $247 across 54 hospitalsTN$247North Carolina: median $313 across 67 hospitalsNC$313South Carolina: median $475 across 44 hospitalsSC$475Oklahoma: median $193 across 58 hospitalsOK$193Louisiana: median $229 across 45 hospitalsLA$229Mississippi: median $144 across 48 hospitalsMS$144Alabama: median $352 across 37 hospitalsAL$352Georgia: median $496 across 90 hospitalsGA$496Hawaii: median $673 across 18 hospitalsHI$673Texas: median $471 across 188 hospitalsTX$471Florida: median $461 across 96 hospitalsFL$461
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $324. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA166$728+125%$279 – $1,100
Hawaii HI18$673+108%$392 – $771
Georgia GA90$496+53%$191 – $781
Massachusetts MA45$494+53%$117 – $610
Ohio OH137$494+52%$210 – $883
Utah UT33$490+52%$291 – $577
South Carolina SC44$475+47%$307 – $1,065
Texas TX188$471+46%$211 – $665
Florida FL96$461+42%$181 – $936
Connecticut CT20$455+41%$190 – $972
New Jersey NJ57$397+23%$327 – $3,786
Virginia VA57$366+13%$90 – $478
New York NY109$364+13%$110 – $1,079
New Mexico NM25$355+10%$137 – $550
Pennsylvania PA122$355+10%$182 – $526
Alabama AL37$352+9%$153 – $470
Arizona AZ46$348+7%$151 – $1,428
Washington WA70$342+6%$99 – $609
Michigan MI87$338+4%$162 – $477
Nevada NV16$333+3%$190 – $448
Colorado CO64$313−3%$132 – $543
North Carolina NC67$313−3%$171 – $451
Idaho ID24$311−4%$69 – $672
West Virginia WV40$306−5%$110 – $508
Minnesota MN105$300−7%$94 – $456
Kentucky KY48$300−7%$110 – $639
Illinois IL123$296−9%$141 – $632
Alaska AK16$293−9%$154 – $481
Wisconsin WI102$283−12%$129 – $540
Missouri MO75$247−24%$92 – $409
Tennessee TN54$247−24%$90 – $388
Vermont VT13$237−27%$60 – $537
Louisiana LA45$229−29%$90 – $468
Indiana IN64$206−36%$122 – $524
Maine ME23$201−38%$56 – $421
Oklahoma OK58$193−40%$80 – $493
South Dakota SD23$193−40%$145 – $453
Maryland MD10$192−41%$124 – $339
Iowa IA83$166−49%$71 – $513
Wyoming WY14$164−49%$97 – $376
Arkansas AR30$159−51%$61 – $631
North Dakota ND26$156−52%$94 – $351
Mississippi MS48$144−56%$74 – $293
Nebraska NE74$136−58%$88 – $246
Kansas KS82$115−64%$70 – $289
Oregon OR54$107−67%$72 – $319
New Hampshire NH19$84−74%$42 – $259
Montana MT28$79−75%$46 – $179
Rhode Island RI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE5not 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 $324.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,985$376$171 – $728
Children’s62$520$229 – $1,207
Critical access832$145$76 – $411
Ownership
For-profit289$430$194 – $967
Government575$190$83 – $451
Non-profit2,015$343$125 – $651
System affiliation
Part of a system2,297$348$131 – $666
Independent591$209$81 – $493

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$575
Median cash price$324
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

2,085 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $363 and the average of the middle 60% is $385; most fall between $149 and $693.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,085 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
$85$192$363$603$904

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 11× what the cheapest tenth charges ($85 vs $904).

Of the 2,251 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,085 gave a usable cash price; 58 carried a plausibility flag, 1 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 107 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,888 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (73%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,109 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,888
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here97
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded5
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded118
Hospitals that filed this code3,109

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 July 20, 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 Arthrocentesis family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Arthrocentesis Aspir&/Inj Small Jt/Bursa W/O US.

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, “Fluid removal or injection, small joint, no imaging guidance (CPT 20600) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-20600-fluid-removal-or-injection-small-joint-no-imaging-guidance