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Procedure price report · Other diagnostic procedures on musculoskeletal system

Biopsy of soft tissue of the back or flank, surface level

CPT 21920the billing code this page is about

Removal of a small sample of soft tissue just under the skin of the back or flank for laboratory examination.

Hospitals typically charge $1,344 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 807 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,424. Most fall between $434 and $2,803 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
807
States
48
Filings dated
Mar 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 807 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
$272$549$1,344$2,480$4,462

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 16× what the cheapest tenth charges ($272 vs $4,462).

How the prices are spread

$190 – $268: 38 hospitals$190$268 – $379: 59 hospitals$379 – $536: 61 hospitals$379$536 – $759: 74 hospitals$759 – $1,074: 66 hospitals$759$1,074 – $1,519: 81 hospitals$1,519 – $2,148: 156 hospitals$1,519$2,148 – $3,039: 80 hospitals$3,039 – $4,299: 58 hospitals$3,039$4,299 – $6,082: 68 hospitals$4,299median $1,344price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (741 of 807 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$190$26838
$268$37959
$379$53661
$536$75974
$759$1,07466
$1,074$1,51981
$1,519$2,148156
$2,148$3,03980
$3,039$4,29958
$4,299$6,08268

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$1,687
Median cash price$1,344
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.80×

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 $1,344.

Alaska: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $1,861 across 28 hospitalsWA$1,861Idaho: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $349 across 18 hospitalsMN$349Illinois: median $613 across 34 hospitalsIL$613Wisconsin: median $775 across 33 hospitalsWI$775Michigan: median $306 across 30 hospitalsMI$306New York: median $1,917 across 40 hospitalsNY$1,917Massachusetts: median $1,676 across 10 hospitalsMA$1,676Oregon: median $863 across 21 hospitalsOR$863Nevada: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $630 across 22 hospitalsIA$630Indiana: median $240 across 10 hospitalsIN$240Ohio: median $2,604 across 43 hospitalsOH$2,604Pennsylvania: median $1,899 across 34 hospitalsPA$1,899New Jersey: median $2,125 across 39 hospitalsNJ$2,125Connecticut: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $2,480 across 67 hospitalsCA$2,480Utah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: median $2,937 across 15 hospitalsCO$2,937Nebraska: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: median $1,761 across 18 hospitalsMO$1,761Kentucky: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: median $1,899 across 13 hospitalsWV$1,899Virginia: median $1,333 across 21 hospitalsVA$1,333Maryland: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $471 across 17 hospitalsKS$471Arkansas: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $333 across 14 hospitalsTN$333North Carolina: median $1,155 across 28 hospitalsNC$1,155South Carolina: median $1,836 across 20 hospitalsSC$1,836Oklahoma: median $255 across 20 hospitalsOK$255Louisiana: median $952 across 10 hospitalsLA$952Mississippi: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $1,085 across 35 hospitalsGA$1,085Hawaii: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $1,788 across 33 hospitalsTX$1,788Florida: median $1,221 across 30 hospitalsFL$1,221
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,344. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Colorado CO15$2,937+119%$626 – $4,371
Ohio OH43$2,604+94%$1,295 – $4,636
California CA67$2,480+85%$775 – $6,082
New Jersey NJ39$2,125+58%$1,793 – $5,339
New York NY40$1,917+43%$433 – $2,717
Pennsylvania PA34$1,899+41%$104 – $2,916
West Virginia WV13$1,899+41%$617 – $1,982
Washington WA28$1,861+39%$434 – $3,832
South Carolina SC20$1,836+37%$1,758 – $1,836
Texas TX33$1,788+33%$1,252 – $2,135
Missouri MO18$1,761+31%$386 – $2,254
Massachusetts MA10$1,676+25%$1,023 – $2,785
Virginia VA21$1,333−1%$1,159 – $2,749
Florida FL30$1,221−9%$645 – $4,158
North Carolina NC28$1,155−14%$666 – $1,178
Georgia GA35$1,085−19%$986 – $1,693
Louisiana LA10$952−29%$637 – $1,827
Oregon OR21$863−36%$464 – $1,287
Wisconsin WI33$775−42%$700 – $1,255
Iowa IA22$630−53%$246 – $2,699
Illinois IL34$613−54%$299 – $2,216
Kansas KS17$471−65%$254 – $3,778
Minnesota MN18$349−74%$298 – $746
Tennessee TN14$333−75%$318 – $1,987
Michigan MI30$306−77%$153 – $1,999
Oklahoma OK20$255−81%$255 – $1,907
Indiana IN10$240−82%$240 – $1,738
Idaho ID8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD1not 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 $1,344.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care674$1,654$533 – $3,117
Children’s12fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access116$545$299 – $1,664
Ownership
For-profit69$1,085$424 – $2,403
Government131$1,106$373 – $1,987
Non-profit602$1,599$464 – $3,086
System affiliation
Part of a system666$1,530$481 – $2,937
Independent141$927$357 – $2,466

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,317
Median cash price$1,344
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

564 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,295 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,457; most fall between $455 and $3,123.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 564 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
$276$551$1,295$2,645$4,472

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 16× what the cheapest tenth charges ($276 vs $4,472).

Of the 597 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 564 gave a usable cash price; 12 carried a plausibility flag, 1 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 20 a list price only.

How complete is this

807 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (20%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 874 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted807
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here38
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded2
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded2
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded25
Hospitals that filed this code874

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 diagnostic procedures on musculoskeletal system family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as PR Biopsy Soft Tissue Back,Superf.

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, “Biopsy of soft tissue of the back or flank, surface level (CPT 21920) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-21920-biopsy-of-soft-tissue-of-the-back-or-flank-surface-level