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Procedure price report · Other diagnostic procedures on musculoskeletal system

Opening of the elbow joint to sample the joint lining

CPT 24100the billing code this page is about

Surgical opening of the elbow joint to take a tissue sample of the joint lining for testing.

Hospitals typically charge $2,382 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 236 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,502. Most fall between $722 and $4,499 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
236
States
39
Filings dated
Jan 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 236 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
$561$792$2,382$3,840$8,372

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 15× what the cheapest tenth charges ($561 vs $8,372).

How the prices are spread

$509 – $678: 23 hospitals$509$678 – $903: 33 hospitals$903 – $1,202: 20 hospitals$903$1,202 – $1,601: 18 hospitals$1,601 – $2,131: 11 hospitals$1,601$2,131 – $2,837: 3 hospitals$2,837 – $3,778: 45 hospitals$2,837$3,778 – $5,029: 34 hospitals$5,029 – $6,696: 10 hospitals$5,029$6,696 – $8,915: 25 hospitals$6,696median $2,382price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (222 of 236 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$509$67823
$678$90333
$903$1,20220
$1,202$1,60118
$1,601$2,13111
$2,131$2,8373
$2,837$3,77845
$3,778$5,02934
$5,029$6,69610
$6,696$8,91525

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$3,343
Median cash price$2,382
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.71×

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 $2,382.

Alaska: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMEVermont: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 1 hospital 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 $802 across 11 hospitalsIL$802Wisconsin: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWIMichigan: median $1,202 across 11 hospitalsMI$1,202New York: median $3,840 across 20 hospitalsNY$3,840Massachusetts: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMAOregon: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 2 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 $1,026 across 13 hospitalsIA$1,026Indiana: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureINOhio: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureOHPennsylvania: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figurePANew Jersey: median $3,986 across 22 hospitalsNJ$3,986Connecticut: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $8,915 across 22 hospitalsCA$8,915Utah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceWVVirginia: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceVAMaryland: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 2 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 $699 across 12 hospitalsOK$699Louisiana: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMSAlabama: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $3,720 across 33 hospitalsTX$3,720Florida: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $2,382. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA22$8,915+274%$8,915 – $8,915
New Jersey NJ22$3,986+67%$3,591 – $5,419
New York NY20$3,840+61%$1,252 – $3,884
Texas TX33$3,720+56%$3,720 – $3,720
Michigan MI11$1,202−50%$816 – $4,499
Iowa IA13$1,026−57%$1,026 – $1,026
Illinois IL11$802−66%$526 – $930
Oklahoma OK12$699−71%$699 – $699
Wisconsin WI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Ohio OH7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Indiana IN5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Pennsylvania PA4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Georgia GA2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA1not 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 $2,382.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care198$3,546$749 – $4,499
Children’s8fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access30$1,538$561 – $5,814
Ownership
For-profit32$2,849$656 – $4,636
Government28$1,208$754 – $3,840
Non-profit176$2,862$749 – $4,627
System affiliation
Part of a system193$3,594$749 – $4,636
Independent43$1,092$711 – $3,170

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$1,504
Median cash price$2,382
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

147 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,208 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,010; most fall between $699 and $3,720.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 147 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
$526$699$1,208$3,720$8,915

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 17× what the cheapest tenth charges ($526 vs $8,915).

Of the 171 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 147 gave a usable cash price; 21 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

236 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (6%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 265 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted236
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here26
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 — excluded2
Hospitals that filed this code265

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 5, 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 diagnostic procedures on musculoskeletal system family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Arthrotomy Elbow W/Synovial Biopsy Only.

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 of the elbow joint to sample the joint lining (CPT 24100) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-24100-opening-of-the-elbow-joint-to-sample-the-joint-lining