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Procedure price report · Other fracture and dislocation procedure

Pinning a break above the elbow through the skin

CPT 24538the billing code this page is about

Fixation of a break in the lower end of the upper arm bone using pins or wires placed through the skin into the bone, rather than through an open incision.

Hospitals typically charge $3,702 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 693 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $4,221. Most fall between $1,341 and $8,613 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
693
States
47
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 693 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
$1,044$1,556$3,702$7,807$12,106

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($1,044 vs $12,106).

How the prices are spread

$809 – $1,078: 40 hospitals$809$1,078 – $1,436: 79 hospitals$1,436 – $1,914: 74 hospitals$1,436$1,914 – $2,550: 53 hospitals$2,550 – $3,397: 45 hospitals$2,550$3,397 – $4,526: 67 hospitals$4,526 – $6,030: 55 hospitals$4,526$6,030 – $8,034: 85 hospitals$8,034 – $10,704: 69 hospitals$8,034$10,704 – $14,262: 61 hospitals$10,704median $3,702price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (628 of 693 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$809$1,07840
$1,078$1,43679
$1,436$1,91474
$1,914$2,55053
$2,550$3,39745
$3,397$4,52667
$4,526$6,03055
$6,030$8,03485
$8,034$10,70469
$10,704$14,26261

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$7,413
Median cash price$3,702
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 $3,702.

Alaska: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: median $1,291 across 10 hospitalsVT$1,291New Hampshire: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $2,738 across 25 hospitalsWA$2,738Idaho: median $7,735 across 13 hospitalsID$7,735Montana: median $1,931 across 12 hospitalsMT$1,931North Dakota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $4,107 across 28 hospitalsMN$4,107Illinois: median $2,514 across 27 hospitalsIL$2,514Wisconsin: median $3,671 across 32 hospitalsWI$3,671Michigan: median $1,445 across 35 hospitalsMI$1,445New York: median $8,454 across 35 hospitalsNY$8,454Massachusetts: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: median $2,637 across 29 hospitalsOR$2,637Nevada: 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: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $1,874 across 24 hospitalsIA$1,874Indiana: median $864 across 12 hospitalsIN$864Ohio: median $2,794 across 15 hospitalsOH$2,794Pennsylvania: median $2,609 across 20 hospitalsPA$2,609New Jersey: median $7,807 across 33 hospitalsNJ$7,807Connecticut: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $7,717 across 71 hospitalsCA$7,717Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $3,766 across 15 hospitalsCO$3,766Nebraska: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: median $4,249 across 18 hospitalsMO$4,249Kentucky: median $1,248 across 13 hospitalsKY$1,248West Virginia: median $2,009 across 15 hospitalsWV$2,009Virginia: median $3,185 across 13 hospitalsVA$3,185Maryland: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $1,341 across 10 hospitalsKS$1,341Arkansas: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $3,702 across 11 hospitalsTN$3,702North Carolina: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $1,271 across 18 hospitalsOK$1,271Louisiana: median $4,973 across 12 hospitalsLA$4,973Mississippi: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $6,731 across 48 hospitalsTX$6,731Florida: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $3,702. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
New York NY35$8,454+128%$1,095 – $9,000
New Jersey NJ33$7,807+111%$4,350 – $8,415
Idaho ID13$7,735+109%$1,596 – $14,738
California CA71$7,717+108%$3,603 – $13,362
Texas TX48$6,731+82%$5,887 – $8,797
Louisiana LA12$4,973+34%$3,155 – $8,757
Missouri MO18$4,249+15%$1,130 – $5,782
Minnesota MN28$4,107+11%$1,607 – $5,515
Colorado CO15$3,766+2%$1,564 – $8,377
Tennessee TN11$3,7020%$697 – $4,533
Wisconsin WI32$3,671−1%$3,595 – $6,310
Virginia VA13$3,185−14%$526 – $11,186
Ohio OH15$2,794−25%$1,350 – $3,568
Washington WA25$2,738−26%$1,556 – $15,281
Oregon OR29$2,637−29%$1,468 – $17,580
Pennsylvania PA20$2,609−30%$491 – $11,093
Illinois IL27$2,514−32%$1,113 – $8,100
West Virginia WV15$2,009−46%$827 – $4,857
Montana MT12$1,931−48%$1,559 – $4,775
Iowa IA24$1,874−49%$1,503 – $1,968
Michigan MI35$1,445−61%$1,284 – $3,595
Kansas KS10$1,341−64%$1,044 – $3,138
Vermont VT10$1,291−65%$407 – $1,906
Oklahoma OK18$1,271−66%$1,271 – $1,824
Kentucky KY13$1,248−66%$809 – $2,430
Indiana IN12$864−77%$809 – $3,383
Alabama AL9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Georgia GA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD2not 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 $3,702.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care501$4,881$1,323 – $9,128
Children’s26$4,973$2,026 – $10,259
Critical access165$2,029$1,284 – $3,962
Ownership
For-profit77$5,416$1,256 – $9,823
Government112$2,161$1,433 – $8,454
Non-profit503$3,813$1,323 – $8,613
System affiliation
Part of a system537$4,006$1,292 – $9,058
Independent156$2,387$1,350 – $7,171

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$4,667
Median cash price$3,702
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

377 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $3,595 and the average of the middle 60% is $4,173; most fall between $1,271 and $9,852.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 377 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
$911$1,468$3,595$7,717$13,362

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 15× what the cheapest tenth charges ($911 vs $13,362).

Of the 420 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 377 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 23 a list price only.

How complete is this

693 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (18%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 764 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted693
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 — excluded2
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded22
Hospitals that filed this code764

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 fracture and dislocation procedure family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Prq Skel Fixj Sprcndylr/Transcndylr Humeral Fx.

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, “Pinning a break above the elbow through the skin (CPT 24538) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-24538-pinning-a-break-above-the-elbow-through-the-skin