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Procedure price report · Other OR therapeutic procedures on joints

Opening the elbow joint to drain it or remove an object

CPT 24000the billing code this page is about

Surgical opening of the elbow joint to explore it, drain infection or fluid, or remove a foreign body.

Hospitals typically charge $1,679 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 549 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,428. Most fall between $902 and $5,038 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
549
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 549 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
$695$1,032$1,679$4,579$8,114

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($695 vs $8,114).

How the prices are spread

$477 – $652: 18 hospitals$477$652 – $892: 64 hospitals$892 – $1,220: 76 hospitals$892$1,220 – $1,669: 87 hospitals$1,669 – $2,283: 23 hospitals$1,669$2,283 – $3,122: 29 hospitals$3,122 – $4,271: 73 hospitals$3,122$4,271 – $5,841: 69 hospitals$5,841 – $7,988: 28 hospitals$5,841$7,988 – $10,926: 41 hospitals$7,988median $1,679price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (508 of 549 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$477$65218
$652$89264
$892$1,22076
$1,220$1,66987
$1,669$2,28323
$2,283$3,12229
$3,122$4,27173
$4,271$5,84169
$5,841$7,98828
$7,988$10,92641

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$3,343
Median cash price$1,679
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.50×

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 $1,679.

Alaska: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: median $3,910 across 11 hospitalsID$3,910Montana: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $2,971 across 21 hospitalsMN$2,971Illinois: median $1,202 across 23 hospitalsIL$1,202Wisconsin: median $1,426 across 33 hospitalsWI$1,426Michigan: median $1,152 across 29 hospitalsMI$1,152New York: median $3,840 across 33 hospitalsNY$3,840Massachusetts: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: median $1,336 across 18 hospitalsOR$1,336Nevada: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $1,175 across 24 hospitalsIA$1,175Indiana: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureINOhio: median $1,581 across 16 hospitalsOH$1,581Pennsylvania: median $2,382 across 26 hospitalsPA$2,382New Jersey: median $4,330 across 31 hospitalsNJ$4,330Connecticut: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $4,914 across 49 hospitalsCA$4,914Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $3,704 across 15 hospitalsVA$3,704Maryland: 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: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $781 across 16 hospitalsOK$781Louisiana: median $2,733 across 11 hospitalsLA$2,733Mississippi: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $5,727 across 26 hospitalsTX$5,727Florida: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,679. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Texas TX26$5,727+241%$2,794 – $6,013
California CA49$4,914+193%$1,495 – $10,926
New Jersey NJ31$4,330+158%$3,594 – $5,419
Idaho ID11$3,910+133%$1,186 – $8,372
New York NY33$3,840+129%$1,114 – $3,884
Virginia VA15$3,704+121%$321 – $3,704
Minnesota MN21$2,971+77%$1,161 – $3,903
Louisiana LA11$2,733+63%$1,324 – $4,575
Pennsylvania PA26$2,382+42%$315 – $5,038
Ohio OH16$1,581−6%$1,171 – $2,772
Wisconsin WI33$1,426−15%$1,266 – $4,885
Oregon OR18$1,336−20%$902 – $1,602
Illinois IL23$1,202−28%$770 – $4,761
Iowa IA24$1,175−30%$890 – $1,384
Michigan MI29$1,152−31%$1,078 – $1,679
Oklahoma OK16$781−54%$781 – $6,615
Florida FL9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Georgia GA9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Indiana IN9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT1not 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 $1,679.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care408$2,872$903 – $5,727
Children’s14fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access126$1,271$860 – $3,360
Ownership
For-profit56$3,270$916 – $7,829
Government85$1,342$844 – $3,840
Non-profit407$1,940$910 – $5,122
System affiliation
Part of a system425$2,194$916 – $5,716
Independent124$1,413$812 – $3,618

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,002
Median cash price$1,679
Cash as a share of list, median hospital65%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 35%. 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

315 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,434 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,279; most fall between $781 and $5,727.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 315 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
$683$902$1,434$4,914$8,241

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($683 vs $8,241).

Of the 345 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 315 gave a usable cash price; 20 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 10 a list price only.

How complete is this

549 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 609 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted549
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here46
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded1
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded12
Hospitals that filed this code609

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 joints family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Arthrt Elbow W/Exploration Drainage/Removal FB.

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, “Opening the elbow joint to drain it or remove an object (CPT 24000) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-24000-opening-the-elbow-joint-to-drain-it-or-remove-an-object