HRHospitalRates.comCompare prices

Procedure price report · Other OR therapeutic procedures on bone

Computer-guided external bone fixator with strut adjustments

CPT 20696the billing code this page is about

Placement of a multi-plane external frame plus computer-assisted planning and the initial and later strut adjustments, including imaging, for one frame.

Hospitals typically charge $4,955 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 269 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $8,401. Most fall between $1,919 and $27,722 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
269
States
42
Filings dated
Jun 2024 – 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 269 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
$1,436$2,097$4,955$21,762$36,674

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 26× what the cheapest tenth charges ($1,436 vs $36,674).

How the prices are spread

$1,041 – $1,488: 15 hospitals$1,041$1,488 – $2,129: 41 hospitals$2,129 – $3,045: 36 hospitals$2,129$3,045 – $4,356: 20 hospitals$4,356 – $6,231: 30 hospitals$4,356$6,231 – $8,912: 10 hospitals$8,912 – $12,748: 2 hospitals$8,912$12,748 – $18,235: 19 hospitals$18,235 – $26,084: 29 hospitals$18,235$26,084 – $37,310: 41 hospitals$26,084median $4,955price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (243 of 269 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$1,041$1,48815
$1,488$2,12941
$2,129$3,04536
$3,045$4,35620
$4,356$6,23130
$6,231$8,91210
$8,912$12,7482
$12,748$18,23519
$18,235$26,08429
$26,084$37,31041

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$27,722
Median cash price$4,955
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.18×

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 $4,955.

Alaska: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $1,898 across 13 hospitalsIL$1,898Wisconsin: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWIMichigan: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMINew York: median $21,762 across 22 hospitalsNY$21,762Massachusetts: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMAOregon: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: median $2,938 across 14 hospitalsIA$2,938Indiana: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureINOhio: median $4,566 across 10 hospitalsOH$4,566Pennsylvania: median $884 across 18 hospitalsPA$884New Jersey: median $6,839 across 24 hospitalsNJ$6,839Connecticut: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $36,674 across 24 hospitalsCA$36,674Utah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: 1 hospital 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: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 1 hospital 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: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $1,919 across 12 hospitalsOK$1,919Louisiana: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceHITexas: median $4,955 across 19 hospitalsTX$4,955Florida: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $4,955. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA24$36,674+640%$36,674 – $36,674
New York NY22$21,762+339%$3,572 – $27,722
New Jersey NJ24$6,839+38%$4,881 – $20,373
Texas TX19$4,9550%$4,955 – $16,140
Ohio OH10$4,566−8%$1,579 – $4,566
Iowa IA14$2,938−41%$2,938 – $2,938
Oklahoma OK12$1,919−61%$1,919 – $1,919
Illinois IL13$1,898−62%$1,523 – $2,203
Pennsylvania PA18$884−82%$720 – $34,653
Georgia GA8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Michigan MI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Indiana IN7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wisconsin WI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT1not 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 $4,955.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care228$4,955$1,919 – $31,956
Children’s10fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access31$3,028$1,537 – $17,113
Ownership
For-profit28$4,179$1,523 – $23,258
Government39$3,940$2,333 – $21,762
Non-profit202$4,955$1,919 – $28,557
System affiliation
Part of a system222$5,797$1,919 – $29,886
Independent47$3,007$1,924 – $18,460

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$4,351
Median cash price$4,955
Cash as a share of list, median hospital64%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 36%. 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

150 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $3,007 and the average of the middle 60% is $6,631; most fall between $1,690 and $27,646.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 150 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
$1,383$1,919$3,007$20,355$36,674

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 27× what the cheapest tenth charges ($1,383 vs $36,674).

Of the 162 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 150 gave a usable cash price; 8 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 4 a list price only.

How complete is this

269 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (7%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 290 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted269
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here19
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 — excluded1
Hospitals that filed this code290

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 OR therapeutic procedures on bone family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as App Mltpln Uni Xtrnl Fix Strtctc Adjmt 1st&Subsq.

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, “Computer-guided external bone fixator with strut adjustments (CPT 20696) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-20696-computer-guided-external-bone-fixator-with-strut-adjustments