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Procedure price report · Traction, splints, and other wound care

Applying skull tongs or a head holding frame

CPT 20660the billing code this page is about

Attachment of tongs, calipers, or a stereotactic head frame to the skull to apply traction or stabilize the head, including later removal of the device.

Hospitals typically charge $1,562 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 546 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,703. Most fall between $518 and $3,818 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
546
States
46
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 546 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
$386$615$1,562$3,238$4,738

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($386 vs $4,738).

How the prices are spread

$227 – $317: 18 hospitals$227$317 – $442: 42 hospitals$442 – $615: 52 hospitals$442$615 – $858: 68 hospitals$858 – $1,195: 39 hospitals$858$1,195 – $1,665: 44 hospitals$1,665 – $2,321: 82 hospitals$1,665$2,321 – $3,234: 32 hospitals$3,234 – $4,507: 58 hospitals$3,234$4,507 – $6,281: 64 hospitals$4,507median $1,562price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (499 of 546 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$227$31718
$317$44242
$442$61552
$615$85868
$858$1,19539
$1,195$1,66544
$1,665$2,32182
$2,321$3,23432
$3,234$4,50758
$4,507$6,28164

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$1,643
Median cash price$1,562
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.95×

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 $1,562.

Alaska: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $1,590 across 25 hospitalsWA$1,590Idaho: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $591 across 21 hospitalsIL$591Wisconsin: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWIMichigan: median $712 across 14 hospitalsMI$712New York: median $1,894 across 33 hospitalsNY$1,894Massachusetts: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: median $771 across 22 hospitalsOR$771Nevada: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: median $580 across 15 hospitalsIA$580Indiana: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureINOhio: median $1,719 across 28 hospitalsOH$1,719Pennsylvania: median $1,643 across 26 hospitalsPA$1,643New Jersey: median $3,986 across 30 hospitalsNJ$3,986Connecticut: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $3,107 across 50 hospitalsCA$3,107Utah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: median $795 across 17 hospitalsCO$795Nebraska: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: median $4,738 across 12 hospitalsAZ$4,738New Mexico: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $393 across 22 hospitalsOK$393Louisiana: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $3,818 across 19 hospitalsGA$3,818Hawaii: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $1,891 across 46 hospitalsTX$1,891Florida: median $843 across 30 hospitalsFL$843
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,562. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Arizona AZ12$4,738+203%$2,434 – $4,738
New Jersey NJ30$3,986+155%$1,771 – $5,741
Georgia GA19$3,818+144%$2,098 – $6,281
California CA50$3,107+99%$1,058 – $4,687
New York NY33$1,894+21%$425 – $2,007
Texas TX46$1,891+21%$1,417 – $3,238
Ohio OH28$1,719+10%$899 – $5,231
Pennsylvania PA26$1,643+5%$156 – $2,485
Washington WA25$1,590+2%$544 – $2,976
Florida FL30$843−46%$623 – $3,047
Colorado CO17$795−49%$793 – $2,207
Oregon OR22$771−51%$442 – $4,274
Michigan MI14$712−54%$469 – $2,211
Illinois IL21$591−62%$464 – $3,514
Iowa IA15$580−63%$580 – $580
Oklahoma OK22$393−75%$393 – $639
Louisiana LA9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wisconsin WI9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Indiana IN1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI1not 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 $1,562.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care464$1,643$578 – $4,199
Children’s15fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access66$1,083$464 – $3,238
Ownership
For-profit54$1,435$609 – $4,738
Government77$1,455$464 – $3,238
Non-profit414$1,590$561 – $3,818
System affiliation
Part of a system460$1,720$580 – $4,199
Independent86$734$429 – $2,283

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,265
Median cash price$1,562
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

378 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,719 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,901; most fall between $578 and $4,274.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 378 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
$393$623$1,719$3,742$4,738

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($393 vs $4,738).

Of the 411 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 378 gave a usable cash price; 16 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 17 a list price only.

How complete is this

546 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (14%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 598 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted546
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here33
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 — excluded18
Hospitals that filed this code598

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 Traction, splints, and other wound care family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Appl Cranial Tong/Strtctc Frame W/Removal Spx.

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, “Applying skull tongs or a head holding frame (CPT 20660) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-20660-applying-skull-tongs-or-a-head-holding-frame