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Procedure price report · Other OR therapeutic procedures on joints

Opening a thumb or hand joint to drain or explore it

CPT 26070the billing code this page is about

Surgical opening of a joint at the base of the hand to inspect it, drain infection, or remove a foreign object.

Hospitals typically charge $1,551 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 547 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,516. Most fall between $594 and $3,155 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
547
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 547 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
$397$663$1,551$2,483$5,113

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 13× what the cheapest tenth charges ($397 vs $5,113).

How the prices are spread

$318 – $423: 33 hospitals$318$423 – $564: 46 hospitals$564 – $751: 41 hospitals$564$751 – $999: 72 hospitals$999 – $1,331: 28 hospitals$999$1,331 – $1,772: 80 hospitals$1,772 – $2,360: 56 hospitals$1,772$2,360 – $3,142: 54 hospitals$3,142 – $4,184: 36 hospitals$3,142$4,184 – $5,571: 50 hospitals$4,184median $1,551price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (496 of 547 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$318$42333
$423$56446
$564$75141
$751$99972
$999$1,33128
$1,331$1,77280
$1,772$2,36056
$2,360$3,14254
$3,142$4,18436
$4,184$5,57150

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$1,643
Median cash price$1,551
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.94×

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 $1,551.

Alaska: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $706 across 12 hospitalsWA$706Idaho: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $583 across 18 hospitalsIL$583Wisconsin: median $1,635 across 30 hospitalsWI$1,635Michigan: median $814 across 31 hospitalsMI$814New York: median $1,894 across 28 hospitalsNY$1,894Massachusetts: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: median $1,090 across 16 hospitalsOR$1,090Nevada: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $791 across 22 hospitalsIA$791Indiana: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureINOhio: median $991 across 15 hospitalsOH$991Pennsylvania: median $1,876 across 23 hospitalsPA$1,876New Jersey: median $2,136 across 32 hospitalsNJ$2,136Connecticut: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceCTRhode Island: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $1,895 across 44 hospitalsCA$1,895Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: median $765 across 10 hospitalsNE$765Missouri: median $867 across 15 hospitalsMO$867Kentucky: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $661 across 14 hospitalsKS$661Arkansas: 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: median $2,483 across 20 hospitalsNC$2,483South Carolina: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $538 across 14 hospitalsOK$538Louisiana: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $5,810 across 12 hospitalsGA$5,810Hawaii: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $1,551 across 36 hospitalsTX$1,551Florida: median $5,571 across 11 hospitalsFL$5,571
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,551. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Georgia GA12$5,810+275%$2,464 – $5,810
Florida FL11$5,571+259%$1,606 – $5,571
North Carolina NC20$2,483+60%$1,632 – $2,586
New Jersey NJ32$2,136+38%$1,773 – $5,419
California CA44$1,895+22%$1,544 – $5,113
New York NY28$1,894+22%$770 – $2,007
Pennsylvania PA23$1,876+21%$213 – $3,447
Wisconsin WI30$1,635+5%$1,566 – $3,289
Texas TX36$1,5510%$1,551 – $2,450
Oregon OR16$1,090−30%$611 – $1,778
Ohio OH15$991−36%$580 – $1,555
Missouri MO15$867−44%$433 – $2,615
Michigan MI31$814−48%$682 – $1,635
Iowa IA22$791−49%$667 – $847
Nebraska NE10$765−51%$547 – $1,101
Washington WA12$706−55%$642 – $1,338
Kansas KS14$661−57%$382 – $1,614
Illinois IL18$583−62%$397 – $985
Oklahoma OK14$538−65%$538 – $3,263
Idaho ID9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Indiana IN9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ2not 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
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 $1,551.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care396$1,635$611 – $3,301
Children’s9fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access142$917$488 – $2,427
Ownership
For-profit55$1,986$656 – $3,536
Government105$1,064$530 – $2,483
Non-profit387$1,551$611 – $3,289
System affiliation
Part of a system434$1,566$611 – $3,299
Independent113$968$518 – $2,400

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$1,629
Median cash price$1,551
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

339 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,551 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,566; most fall between $538 and $3,299.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 339 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
$397$611$1,551$2,615$5,113

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 13× what the cheapest tenth charges ($397 vs $5,113).

Of the 376 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 339 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 17 a list price only.

How complete is this

547 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 617 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted547
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 — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded23
Hospitals that filed this code617

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 Expl Drg/Rmvl Loose/FB Carp/Mtcrpl Jt.

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 a thumb or hand joint to drain or explore it (CPT 26070) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-26070-opening-a-thumb-or-hand-joint-to-drain-or-explore-it