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Procedure price report · Other OR therapeutic procedures on bone

Draining infected bone of the upper arm or elbow

CPT 23935the billing code this page is about

Deep incision that opens the outer layer of the upper arm bone or elbow bone to drain infection or an abscess within the bone.

Hospitals typically charge $1,707 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 333 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,262. Most fall between $868 and $4,499 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
333
States
43
Filings dated
Jun 2024 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 23, 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 333 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
$543$920$1,707$4,084$6,311

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($543 vs $6,311).

How the prices are spread

$470 – $618: 22 hospitals$470$618 – $813: 13 hospitals$813 – $1,069: 52 hospitals$813$1,069 – $1,406: 41 hospitals$1,406 – $1,850: 33 hospitals$1,406$1,850 – $2,434: 8 hospitals$2,434 – $3,201: 16 hospitals$2,434$3,201 – $4,211: 56 hospitals$4,211 – $5,539: 29 hospitals$4,211$5,539 – $7,286: 38 hospitals$5,539median $1,707price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (308 of 333 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$470$61822
$618$81313
$813$1,06952
$1,069$1,40641
$1,406$1,85033
$1,850$2,4348
$2,434$3,20116
$3,201$4,21156
$4,211$5,53929
$5,539$7,28638

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$3,343
Median cash price$1,707
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.51×

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 $1,707.

Alaska: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $970 across 12 hospitalsIL$970Wisconsin: median $2,574 across 14 hospitalsWI$2,574Michigan: median $913 across 23 hospitalsMI$913New York: median $3,840 across 28 hospitalsNY$3,840Massachusetts: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMAOregon: median $1,096 across 11 hospitalsOR$1,096Nevada: 3 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 $1,256 across 15 hospitalsIA$1,256Indiana: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureINOhio: median $1,659 across 12 hospitalsOH$1,659Pennsylvania: median $396 across 18 hospitalsPA$396New Jersey: median $4,129 across 29 hospitalsNJ$4,129Connecticut: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $7,286 across 25 hospitalsCA$7,286Utah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: 3 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: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 6 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: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $834 across 12 hospitalsOK$834Louisiana: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $3,206 across 21 hospitalsTX$3,206Florida: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,707. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA25$7,286+327%$1,279 – $7,286
New Jersey NJ29$4,129+142%$3,591 – $5,339
New York NY28$3,840+125%$1,529 – $3,840
Texas TX21$3,206+88%$1,707 – $3,527
Wisconsin WI14$2,574+51%$2,574 – $4,455
Ohio OH12$1,659−3%$1,004 – $2,098
Iowa IA15$1,256−26%$1,256 – $1,256
Oregon OR11$1,096−36%$965 – $1,720
Illinois IL12$970−43%$540 – $1,256
Michigan MI23$913−47%$913 – $1,234
Oklahoma OK12$834−51%$834 – $834
Pennsylvania PA18$396−77%$322 – $5,486
Idaho ID9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Georgia GA8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Indiana IN4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM1not 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 $1,707.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care273$1,707$842 – $4,636
Children’s11fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access48$1,720$913 – $4,455
Ownership
For-profit33$2,849$656 – $5,317
Government47$1,465$938 – $3,840
Non-profit252$1,711$842 – $4,499
System affiliation
Part of a system271$1,839$868 – $4,636
Independent62$1,334$879 – $3,438

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$1,830
Median cash price$1,707
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

170 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,256 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,005; most fall between $774 and $5,810.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 170 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
$540$834$1,256$3,553$7,286

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 13× what the cheapest tenth charges ($540 vs $7,286).

Of the 181 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 170 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 3 a list price only.

How complete is this

333 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (8%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 367 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted333
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here28
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 — excluded5
Hospitals that filed this code367

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 23, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 23, 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 Inc Deep W/Opening Bone Cortex Humerus/Elbow.

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 infected bone of the upper arm or elbow (CPT 23935) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-23935-draining-infected-bone-of-the-upper-arm-or-elbow