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Procedure price report · Other OR therapeutic procedures on joints

Tightening of a knuckle joint capsule, one finger

CPT 26516the billing code this page is about

Surgery that tightens the capsule of a knuckle joint at the base of the finger to limit backward bending; this code covers one finger.

Hospitals typically charge $2,778 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 398 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,812. Most fall between $1,169 and $5,299 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
398
States
45
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 398 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
$842$1,372$2,778$4,499$8,372

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.9× what the cheapest tenth charges ($842 vs $8,372).

How the prices are spread

$556 – $732: 8 hospitals$556$732 – $964: 22 hospitals$964 – $1,270: 41 hospitals$964$1,270 – $1,673: 39 hospitals$1,673 – $2,204: 43 hospitals$1,673$2,204 – $2,903: 46 hospitals$2,903 – $3,824: 38 hospitals$2,903$3,824 – $5,038: 61 hospitals$5,038 – $6,636: 20 hospitals$5,038$6,636 – $8,742: 43 hospitals$6,636median $2,778price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (361 of 398 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$556$7328
$732$96422
$964$1,27041
$1,270$1,67339
$1,673$2,20443
$2,204$2,90346
$2,903$3,82438
$3,824$5,03861
$5,038$6,63620
$6,636$8,74243

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$3,343
Median cash price$2,778
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.83×

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 $2,778.

Alaska: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMEVermont: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: median $6,877 across 10 hospitalsID$6,877Montana: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $1,341 across 13 hospitalsIL$1,341Wisconsin: median $3,851 across 23 hospitalsWI$3,851Michigan: median $1,111 across 28 hospitalsMI$1,111New York: median $3,840 across 25 hospitalsNY$3,840Massachusetts: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: median $2,266 across 12 hospitalsOR$2,266Nevada: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 5 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 $1,761 across 16 hospitalsIA$1,761Indiana: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureINOhio: median $1,903 across 15 hospitalsOH$1,903Pennsylvania: median $3,139 across 19 hospitalsPA$3,139New Jersey: median $4,627 across 30 hospitalsNJ$4,627Connecticut: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $8,742 across 34 hospitalsCA$8,742Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: 7 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: 5 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: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 6 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: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $1,557 across 13 hospitalsOK$1,557Louisiana: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMSAlabama: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $2,778 across 23 hospitalsTX$2,778Florida: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $2,778. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA34$8,742+215%$2,283 – $8,742
Idaho ID10$6,877+148%$2,832 – $8,372
New Jersey NJ30$4,627+67%$3,594 – $6,839
Wisconsin WI23$3,851+39%$2,819 – $3,851
New York NY25$3,840+38%$1,282 – $3,884
Pennsylvania PA19$3,139+13%$277 – $6,114
Texas TX23$2,7780%$2,311 – $2,778
Oregon OR12$2,266−18%$1,372 – $2,514
Ohio OH15$1,903−31%$1,163 – $4,912
Iowa IA16$1,761−37%$1,761 – $1,775
Oklahoma OK13$1,557−44%$1,557 – $6,615
Illinois IL13$1,341−52%$842 – $3,722
Michigan MI28$1,111−60%$1,111 – $3,851
Georgia GA8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Indiana IN7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT1not 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 $2,778.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care316$2,778$1,210 – $5,855
Children’s9fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access73$2,514$1,111 – $3,851
Ownership
For-profit44$3,181$1,210 – $7,164
Government55$1,859$1,204 – $3,840
Non-profit299$2,778$1,138 – $5,486
System affiliation
Part of a system319$2,778$1,138 – $5,814
Independent79$2,500$1,268 – $4,015

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,928
Median cash price$2,778
Cash as a share of list, median hospital62%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 38%. 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

224 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,857 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,410; most fall between $1,077 and $4,862.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 224 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
$734$1,214$1,857$3,851$8,372

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 11× what the cheapest tenth charges ($734 vs $8,372).

Of the 243 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 224 gave a usable cash price; 14 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 5 a list price only.

How complete is this

398 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (10%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 437 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted398
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here32
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 — excluded6
Hospitals that filed this code437

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 joints family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Capsulodesis Mtcarphlngl Joint Single Digit.

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, “Tightening of a knuckle joint capsule, one finger (CPT 26516) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-26516-tightening-of-a-knuckle-joint-capsule-one-finger