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Procedure price report · Other therapeutic procedures on muscles and tendons

Draining a fluid sac in the upper arm or elbow

CPT 23931the billing code this page is about

Cutting into the upper arm or elbow to drain an inflamed or infected bursa, one of the fluid-filled cushions near the joint.

Hospitals typically charge $1,611 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,618 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,658. Most fall between $547 and $3,343 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,618
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 1,618 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
$313$637$1,611$3,011$4,712

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 15× what the cheapest tenth charges ($313 vs $4,712).

How the prices are spread

$242 – $336: 97 hospitals$242$336 – $465: 89 hospitals$465 – $645: 143 hospitals$465$645 – $893: 141 hospitals$893 – $1,237: 121 hospitals$893$1,237 – $1,714: 191 hospitals$1,714 – $2,374: 230 hospitals$1,714$2,374 – $3,289: 196 hospitals$3,289 – $4,556: 157 hospitals$3,289$4,556 – $6,311: 93 hospitals$4,556median $1,611price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,458 of 1,618 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$242$33697
$336$46589
$465$645143
$645$893141
$893$1,237121
$1,237$1,714191
$1,714$2,374230
$2,374$3,289196
$3,289$4,556157
$4,556$6,31193

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$1,687
Median cash price$1,611
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 $1,611.

Alaska: median $1,649 across 13 hospitalsAK$1,649Maine: median $848 across 18 hospitalsME$848Vermont: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $381 across 15 hospitalsNH$381Washington: median $2,561 across 47 hospitalsWA$2,561Idaho: median $2,350 across 15 hospitalsID$2,350Montana: median $387 across 19 hospitalsMT$387North Dakota: median $2,491 across 11 hospitalsND$2,491Minnesota: median $983 across 51 hospitalsMN$983Illinois: median $1,265 across 57 hospitalsIL$1,265Wisconsin: median $806 across 67 hospitalsWI$806Michigan: median $629 across 55 hospitalsMI$629New York: median $1,917 across 73 hospitalsNY$1,917Massachusetts: median $2,055 across 28 hospitalsMA$2,055Oregon: median $868 across 44 hospitalsOR$868Nevada: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: median $438 across 11 hospitalsWY$438South Dakota: median $2,165 across 11 hospitalsSD$2,165Iowa: median $563 across 48 hospitalsIA$563Indiana: median $580 across 38 hospitalsIN$580Ohio: median $2,639 across 65 hospitalsOH$2,639Pennsylvania: median $1,900 across 61 hospitalsPA$1,900New Jersey: median $4,312 across 45 hospitalsNJ$4,312Connecticut: median $880 across 12 hospitalsCT$880Rhode Island: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $2,444 across 99 hospitalsCA$2,444Utah: median $3,151 across 26 hospitalsUT$3,151Colorado: median $1,231 across 33 hospitalsCO$1,231Nebraska: median $711 across 39 hospitalsNE$711Missouri: median $922 across 29 hospitalsMO$922Kentucky: median $792 across 24 hospitalsKY$792West Virginia: median $1,582 across 20 hospitalsWV$1,582Virginia: median $1,525 across 43 hospitalsVA$1,525Maryland: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: median $1,681 across 15 hospitalsNM$1,681Kansas: median $442 across 36 hospitalsKS$442Arkansas: median $457 across 14 hospitalsAR$457Tennessee: median $676 across 20 hospitalsTN$676North Carolina: median $1,616 across 33 hospitalsNC$1,616South Carolina: median $1,864 across 38 hospitalsSC$1,864Oklahoma: median $1,353 across 35 hospitalsOK$1,353Louisiana: median $1,456 across 26 hospitalsLA$1,456Mississippi: median $875 across 24 hospitalsMS$875Alabama: median $1,610 across 13 hospitalsAL$1,610Georgia: median $4,269 across 32 hospitalsGA$4,269Hawaii: median $3,197 across 12 hospitalsHI$3,197Texas: median $1,697 across 118 hospitalsTX$1,697Florida: median $4,990 across 49 hospitalsFL$4,990
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,611. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Florida FL49$4,990+210%$2,439 – $6,212
New Jersey NJ45$4,312+168%$1,793 – $6,418
Georgia GA32$4,269+165%$1,242 – $4,477
Hawaii HI12$3,197+98%$1,589 – $3,869
Utah UT26$3,151+96%$3,151 – $3,938
Ohio OH65$2,639+64%$894 – $4,844
Washington WA47$2,561+59%$505 – $3,693
North Dakota ND11$2,491+55%$631 – $2,961
California CA99$2,444+52%$1,617 – $6,395
Idaho ID15$2,350+46%$608 – $4,347
South Dakota SD11$2,165+34%$753 – $3,819
Massachusetts MA28$2,055+28%$1,795 – $4,908
New York NY73$1,917+19%$502 – $4,068
Pennsylvania PA61$1,900+18%$308 – $2,884
South Carolina SC38$1,864+16%$1,262 – $4,126
Texas TX118$1,697+5%$920 – $3,201
New Mexico NM15$1,681+4%$287 – $1,773
Alaska AK13$1,649+2%$753 – $3,646
North Carolina NC33$1,6160%$860 – $1,939
Alabama AL13$1,6100%$740 – $2,753
West Virginia WV20$1,582−2%$419 – $1,899
Virginia VA43$1,525−5%$1,064 – $2,732
Louisiana LA26$1,456−10%$1,013 – $2,182
Oklahoma OK35$1,353−16%$266 – $2,158
Illinois IL57$1,265−21%$547 – $3,254
Colorado CO33$1,231−24%$494 – $4,726
Minnesota MN51$983−39%$544 – $1,766
Missouri MO29$922−43%$425 – $1,686
Connecticut CT12$880−45%$577 – $2,669
Mississippi MS24$875−46%$729 – $1,541
Oregon OR44$868−46%$547 – $2,200
Maine ME18$848−47%$625 – $2,378
Wisconsin WI67$806−50%$629 – $2,079
Kentucky KY24$792−51%$297 – $6,506
Nebraska NE39$711−56%$375 – $1,557
Tennessee TN20$676−58%$405 – $999
Michigan MI55$629−61%$306 – $2,766
Indiana IN38$580−64%$303 – $1,804
Iowa IA48$563−65%$307 – $1,795
Arkansas AR14$457−72%$446 – $1,448
Kansas KS36$442−73%$250 – $1,420
Wyoming WY11$438−73%$198 – $950
Montana MT19$387−76%$179 – $1,365
New Hampshire NH15$381−76%$116 – $1,519
Vermont VT9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE3not 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 $1,611.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,163$1,864$723 – $3,819
Children’s18fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access436$735$356 – $2,200
Ownership
For-profit141$1,966$625 – $3,583
Government292$952$403 – $2,703
Non-profit1,184$1,697$610 – $3,516
System affiliation
Part of a system1,310$1,697$629 – $3,585
Independent308$1,025$359 – $2,592

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,867
Median cash price$1,611
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

1,179 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,809 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,882; most fall between $629 and $3,704.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,179 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
$365$778$1,809$3,201$4,844

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 13× what the cheapest tenth charges ($365 vs $4,844).

Of the 1,276 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,179 gave a usable cash price; 34 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 63 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,618 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (41%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,752 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,618
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here65
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded1
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded68
Hospitals that filed this code1,752

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 therapeutic procedures on muscles and tendons family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Incision&Drainage Upper Arm/Elbow Bursa.

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, “Draining a fluid sac in the upper arm or elbow (CPT 23931) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-23931-draining-a-fluid-sac-in-the-upper-arm-or-elbow