HRHospitalRates.comCompare prices

Procedure price report · Arthrocentesis

Fluid removal or injection, small joint, with ultrasound

CPT 20604the 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, guided by ultrasound with a permanent image recorded.

Hospitals typically charge $494 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,010 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $531. Most fall between $196 and $1,000 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,010
States
50
Filings dated
Dec 2023 – 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 2,010 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
$116$235$494$888$1,300

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 11× what the cheapest tenth charges ($116 vs $1,300).

How the prices are spread

$76 – $106: 87 hospitals$76$106 – $146: 89 hospitals$146 – $202: 149 hospitals$146$202 – $279: 163 hospitals$279 – $387: 227 hospitals$279$387 – $535: 282 hospitals$535 – $740: 224 hospitals$535$740 – $1,024: 311 hospitals$1,024 – $1,416: 212 hospitals$1,024$1,416 – $1,959: 70 hospitals$1,416median $494price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,814 of 2,010 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$76$10687
$106$14689
$146$202149
$202$279163
$279$387227
$387$535282
$535$740224
$740$1,024311
$1,024$1,416212
$1,416$1,95970

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$314
Median cash price$494
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.58×

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 $494.

Alaska: median $569 across 15 hospitalsAK$569Maine: median $185 across 17 hospitalsME$185Vermont: median $261 across 12 hospitalsVT$261New Hampshire: median $157 across 15 hospitalsNH$157Washington: median $457 across 57 hospitalsWA$457Idaho: median $561 across 20 hospitalsID$561Montana: median $125 across 18 hospitalsMT$125North Dakota: median $441 across 11 hospitalsND$441Minnesota: median $352 across 69 hospitalsMN$352Illinois: median $388 across 79 hospitalsIL$388Wisconsin: median $442 across 92 hospitalsWI$442Michigan: median $496 across 65 hospitalsMI$496New York: median $349 across 70 hospitalsNY$349Massachusetts: median $541 across 38 hospitalsMA$541Oregon: median $277 across 45 hospitalsOR$277Nevada: median $333 across 12 hospitalsNV$333Wyoming: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: median $226 across 12 hospitalsSD$226Iowa: median $215 across 53 hospitalsIA$215Indiana: median $431 across 53 hospitalsIN$431Ohio: median $883 across 102 hospitalsOH$883Pennsylvania: median $427 across 89 hospitalsPA$427New Jersey: median $405 across 48 hospitalsNJ$405Connecticut: median $556 across 18 hospitalsCT$556Rhode Island: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $842 across 133 hospitalsCA$842Utah: median $958 across 27 hospitalsUT$958Colorado: median $623 across 52 hospitalsCO$623Nebraska: median $281 across 30 hospitalsNE$281Missouri: median $249 across 53 hospitalsMO$249Kentucky: median $364 across 23 hospitalsKY$364West Virginia: median $332 across 28 hospitalsWV$332Virginia: median $433 across 38 hospitalsVA$433Maryland: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $377 across 38 hospitalsAZ$377New Mexico: median $405 across 16 hospitalsNM$405Kansas: median $239 across 41 hospitalsKS$239Arkansas: median $213 across 16 hospitalsAR$213Tennessee: median $178 across 37 hospitalsTN$178North Carolina: median $400 across 45 hospitalsNC$400South Carolina: median $1,159 across 39 hospitalsSC$1,159Oklahoma: median $148 across 35 hospitalsOK$148Louisiana: median $420 across 20 hospitalsLA$420Mississippi: median $383 across 21 hospitalsMS$383Alabama: median $673 across 23 hospitalsAL$673Georgia: median $955 across 58 hospitalsGA$955Hawaii: median $705 across 11 hospitalsHI$705Texas: median $940 across 113 hospitalsTX$940Florida: median $837 across 78 hospitalsFL$837
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $494. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
South Carolina SC39$1,159+135%$336 – $1,232
Utah UT27$958+94%$819 – $1,127
Georgia GA58$955+93%$815 – $1,730
Texas TX113$940+90%$448 – $1,695
Ohio OH102$883+79%$475 – $1,553
California CA133$842+71%$389 – $1,318
Florida FL78$837+69%$543 – $1,242
Hawaii HI11$705+43%$455 – $751
Alabama AL23$673+36%$278 – $850
Colorado CO52$623+26%$268 – $830
Alaska AK15$569+15%$315 – $897
Idaho ID20$561+14%$118 – $672
Connecticut CT18$556+13%$385 – $2,519
Massachusetts MA38$541+10%$221 – $954
Michigan MI65$4960%$262 – $823
Washington WA57$457−7%$162 – $743
Wisconsin WI92$442−11%$226 – $880
North Dakota ND11$441−11%$148 – $551
Virginia VA38$433−12%$178 – $478
Indiana IN53$431−13%$158 – $785
Pennsylvania PA89$427−14%$200 – $890
Louisiana LA20$420−15%$177 – $583
New Mexico NM16$405−18%$75 – $674
New Jersey NJ48$405−18%$327 – $4,350
North Carolina NC45$400−19%$222 – $1,018
Illinois IL79$388−22%$188 – $930
Mississippi MS21$383−23%$205 – $419
Arizona AZ38$377−24%$239 – $1,190
Kentucky KY23$364−26%$263 – $651
Minnesota MN69$352−29%$142 – $708
New York NY70$349−29%$130 – $685
Nevada NV12$333−33%$273 – $623
West Virginia WV28$332−33%$277 – $458
Nebraska NE30$281−43%$96 – $360
Oregon OR45$277−44%$142 – $829
Vermont VT12$261−47%$119 – $691
Missouri MO53$249−49%$116 – $653
Kansas KS41$239−52%$123 – $520
South Dakota SD12$226−54%$177 – $329
Iowa IA53$215−56%$142 – $585
Arkansas AR16$213−57%$125 – $399
Maine ME17$185−63%$51 – $513
Tennessee TN37$178−64%$141 – $587
New Hampshire NH15$157−68%$53 – $366
Oklahoma OK35$148−70%$76 – $310
Montana MT18$125−75%$67 – $437
Wyoming WY8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD6not 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 $494.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,509$531$239 – $1,036
Children’s53$743$315 – $1,496
Critical access443$294$120 – $691
Ownership
For-profit162$741$282 – $1,190
Government339$354$142 – $855
Non-profit1,504$497$207 – $1,000
System affiliation
Part of a system1,654$519$219 – $1,036
Independent356$354$129 – $706

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$866
Median cash price$494
Cash as a share of list, median hospital62%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 38%. 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

1,493 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $598 and the average of the middle 60% is $617; most fall between $233 and $1,062.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,493 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
$142$296$598$958$1,372

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.6× what the cheapest tenth charges ($142 vs $1,372).

Of the 1,599 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,493 gave a usable cash price; 36 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 70 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,010 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (51%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 2,155 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,010
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here66
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded79
Hospitals that filed this code2,155

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 Arthrocentesis family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Arthrocnt Aspir&/Inj Small Jt/Bursaw/US Rec Rprt.

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, with ultrasound (CPT 20604) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-20604-fluid-removal-or-injection-small-joint-with-ultrasound