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Procedure price report · Other diagnostic procedures on musculoskeletal system

Opening the ankle joint to explore, with or without biopsy

CPT 27620the billing code this page is about

A surgical cut into the ankle joint to inspect it, take a tissue sample if needed, and remove loose fragments or foreign material.

Hospitals typically charge $1,792 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 576 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,324. Most fall between $763 and $5,051 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
576
States
49
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 576 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
$583$845$1,792$4,362$7,217

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($583 vs $7,217).

How the prices are spread

$447 – $624: 33 hospitals$447$624 – $872: 91 hospitals$872 – $1,218: 64 hospitals$872$1,218 – $1,701: 62 hospitals$1,701 – $2,376: 48 hospitals$1,701$2,376 – $3,318: 46 hospitals$3,318 – $4,634: 66 hospitals$3,318$4,634 – $6,472: 63 hospitals$6,472 – $9,040: 36 hospitals$6,472$9,040 – $12,625: 11 hospitals$9,040median $1,792price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (520 of 576 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$447$62433
$624$87291
$872$1,21864
$1,218$1,70162
$1,701$2,37648
$2,376$3,31846
$3,318$4,63466
$4,634$6,47263
$6,472$9,04036
$9,040$12,62511

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$3,343
Median cash price$1,792
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.54×

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 $1,792.

Alaska: 2 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: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $1,385 across 17 hospitalsWA$1,385Idaho: median $4,635 across 12 hospitalsID$4,635Montana: 8 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 $1,560 across 27 hospitalsMN$1,560Illinois: median $859 across 18 hospitalsIL$859Wisconsin: median $2,131 across 30 hospitalsWI$2,131Michigan: median $1,235 across 32 hospitalsMI$1,235New York: median $3,840 across 34 hospitalsNY$3,840Massachusetts: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: median $1,268 across 19 hospitalsOR$1,268Nevada: 5 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 $1,112 across 26 hospitalsIA$1,112Indiana: median $742 across 11 hospitalsIN$742Ohio: median $1,551 across 16 hospitalsOH$1,551Pennsylvania: median $799 across 21 hospitalsPA$799New Jersey: median $4,350 across 32 hospitalsNJ$4,350Connecticut: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $5,051 across 35 hospitalsCA$5,051Utah: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: median $1,432 across 10 hospitalsNE$1,432Missouri: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: median $777 across 16 hospitalsWV$777Virginia: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $756 across 10 hospitalsKS$756Arkansas: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: 5 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 $743 across 14 hospitalsOK$743Louisiana: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: median $3,309 across 11 hospitalsAL$3,309Georgia: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $4,352 across 34 hospitalsTX$4,352Florida: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,792. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA35$5,051+182%$1,052 – $5,051
Idaho ID12$4,635+159%$916 – $6,877
Texas TX34$4,352+143%$3,076 – $4,352
New Jersey NJ32$4,350+143%$3,591 – $8,289
New York NY34$3,840+114%$1,327 – $7,020
Alabama AL11$3,309+85%$1,284 – $13,289
Wisconsin WI30$2,131+19%$1,764 – $3,136
Minnesota MN27$1,560−13%$766 – $2,993
Ohio OH16$1,551−13%$957 – $2,040
Nebraska NE10$1,432−20%$681 – $2,580
Washington WA17$1,385−23%$820 – $7,140
Oregon OR19$1,268−29%$838 – $1,486
Michigan MI32$1,235−31%$886 – $2,131
Iowa IA26$1,112−38%$941 – $1,300
Illinois IL18$859−52%$742 – $2,810
Pennsylvania PA21$799−55%$294 – $5,038
West Virginia WV16$777−57%$486 – $5,804
Kansas KS10$756−58%$381 – $3,082
Oklahoma OK14$743−59%$743 – $9,441
Indiana IN11$742−59%$540 – $1,169
Arizona AZ9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Georgia GA9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD1not 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 $1,792.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care405$2,936$811 – $5,721
Children’s12fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access158$1,268$742 – $2,728
Ownership
For-profit63$3,910$1,099 – $7,811
Government100$1,384$811 – $3,934
Non-profit412$1,752$743 – $5,051
System affiliation
Part of a system431$2,131$751 – $5,404
Independent145$1,327$793 – $3,934

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,120
Median cash price$1,792
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

295 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,284 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,062; most fall between $742 and $5,051.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 295 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
$490$743$1,284$4,352$6,114

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($490 vs $6,114).

Of the 331 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 295 gave a usable cash price; 18 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 18 a list price only.

How complete is this

576 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (15%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 638 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted576
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) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded1
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded15
Hospitals that filed this code638

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 diagnostic procedures on musculoskeletal system family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Arthrt Ankle W/Expl W/WO Bx W/WO Rmvl Loose/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 ankle joint to explore, with or without biopsy (CPT 27620) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-27620-opening-the-ankle-joint-to-explore-with-or-without-biopsy