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Procedure price report · Other OR therapeutic procedures on joints

Elbow arthroscopy with complete removal of joint lining

CPT 29836the billing code this page is about

Keyhole elbow surgery in which the entire inflamed lining of the joint is removed.

Hospitals typically charge $3,027 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 332 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $4,058. Most fall between $985 and $8,904 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
332
States
44
Filings dated
Mar 2023 – 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 332 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
$762$1,096$3,027$8,454$11,093

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 15× what the cheapest tenth charges ($762 vs $11,093).

How the prices are spread

$448 – $635: 11 hospitals$448$635 – $900: 23 hospitals$900 – $1,277: 44 hospitals$900$1,277 – $1,811: 26 hospitals$1,811 – $2,569: 35 hospitals$1,811$2,569 – $3,643: 19 hospitals$3,643 – $5,166: 24 hospitals$3,643$5,166 – $7,327: 34 hospitals$7,327 – $10,392: 66 hospitals$7,327$10,392 – $14,738: 20 hospitals$10,392median $3,027price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (302 of 332 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$448$63511
$635$90023
$900$1,27744
$1,277$1,81126
$1,811$2,56935
$2,569$3,64319
$3,643$5,16624
$5,166$7,32734
$7,327$10,39266
$10,392$14,73820

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$7,413
Median cash price$3,027
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.41×

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 $3,027.

Alaska: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: median $11,692 across 10 hospitalsID$11,692Montana: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $2,478 across 11 hospitalsMN$2,478Illinois: median $1,437 across 13 hospitalsIL$1,437Wisconsin: median $2,423 across 21 hospitalsWI$2,423Michigan: median $1,241 across 17 hospitalsMI$1,241New York: median $8,454 across 27 hospitalsNY$8,454Massachusetts: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 2 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 $1,437 across 15 hospitalsIA$1,437Indiana: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureINOhio: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureOHPennsylvania: median $5,050 across 19 hospitalsPA$5,050New Jersey: median $5,741 across 28 hospitalsNJ$5,741Connecticut: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $10,041 across 26 hospitalsCA$10,041Utah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: 4 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: 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: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 3 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 $966 across 13 hospitalsOK$966Louisiana: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMSAlabama: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $5,887 across 20 hospitalsTX$5,887Florida: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $3,027. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Idaho ID10$11,692+286%$3,629 – $14,738
California CA26$10,041+232%$2,052 – $10,041
New York NY27$8,454+179%$1,051 – $8,454
Texas TX20$5,887+94%$1,878 – $5,953
New Jersey NJ28$5,741+90%$3,813 – $7,914
Pennsylvania PA19$5,050+67%$260 – $12,077
Minnesota MN11$2,478−18%$1,430 – $4,479
Wisconsin WI21$2,423−20%$2,423 – $2,918
Iowa IA15$1,437−53%$1,437 – $1,437
Illinois IL13$1,437−53%$448 – $19,650
Michigan MI17$1,241−59%$857 – $9,978
Oklahoma OK13$966−68%$966 – $4,807
Ohio OH9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Georgia GA8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Indiana IN1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM1not 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 $3,027.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care275$4,446$966 – $9,684
Children’s10fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access47$2,423$1,002 – $4,220
Ownership
For-profit42$4,446$870 – $11,692
Government48$2,052$1,010 – $8,454
Non-profit242$2,918$985 – $9,058
System affiliation
Part of a system267$3,813$1,002 – $9,978
Independent65$2,052$938 – $6,476

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$3,088
Median cash price$3,027
Cash as a share of list, median hospital64%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 36%. 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

194 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,942 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,760; most fall between $918 and $8,429.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 194 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
$614$966$1,942$5,953$10,041

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 16× what the cheapest tenth charges ($614 vs $10,041).

Of the 211 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 194 gave a usable cash price; 12 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

332 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (8%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 367 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted332
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here27
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 — excluded7
Hospitals that filed this code367

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 Arthroscopy Elbow Surgical Synovectomy Complete.

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, “Elbow arthroscopy with complete removal of joint lining (CPT 29836) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-29836-elbow-arthroscopy-with-complete-removal-of-joint-lining