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Procedure price report · Other OR therapeutic procedures on joints

Elbow arthroscopy with limited cleanout of the joint

CPT 29837the billing code this page is about

Keyhole elbow surgery that trims away a limited amount of damaged cartilage, scar tissue, or bone spur inside the joint.

Hospitals typically charge $2,148 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 406 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,634. Most fall between $973 and $4,957 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
406
States
44
Filings dated
Jun 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 406 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
$692$1,098$2,148$4,350$8,679

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 13× what the cheapest tenth charges ($692 vs $8,679).

How the prices are spread

$442 – $600: 8 hospitals$442$600 – $815: 25 hospitals$815 – $1,107: 50 hospitals$815$1,107 – $1,503: 65 hospitals$1,503 – $2,041: 33 hospitals$1,503$2,041 – $2,772: 23 hospitals$2,772 – $3,764: 29 hospitals$2,772$3,764 – $5,111: 81 hospitals$5,111 – $6,941: 22 hospitals$5,111$6,941 – $9,426: 30 hospitals$6,941median $2,148price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (366 of 406 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$442$6008
$600$81525
$815$1,10750
$1,107$1,50365
$1,503$2,04133
$2,041$2,77223
$2,772$3,76429
$3,764$5,11181
$5,111$6,94122
$6,941$9,42630

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$3,343
Median cash price$2,148
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.64×

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 $2,148.

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: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: median $6,877 across 11 hospitalsID$6,877Montana: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $4,052 across 14 hospitalsMN$4,052Illinois: median $1,002 across 13 hospitalsIL$1,002Wisconsin: median $2,632 across 11 hospitalsWI$2,632Michigan: median $1,251 across 26 hospitalsMI$1,251New York: median $3,840 across 31 hospitalsNY$3,840Massachusetts: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 4 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 $1,298 across 18 hospitalsIA$1,298Indiana: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceINOhio: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureOHPennsylvania: median $1,032 across 20 hospitalsPA$1,032New Jersey: median $4,330 across 30 hospitalsNJ$4,330Connecticut: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $8,770 across 42 hospitalsCA$8,770Utah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $4,223 across 14 hospitalsVA$4,223Maryland: 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: 3 hospitals 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: 4 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 $869 across 13 hospitalsOK$869Louisiana: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $4,957 across 22 hospitalsTX$4,957Florida: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $2,148. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA42$8,770+308%$1,472 – $8,770
Idaho ID11$6,877+220%$3,399 – $8,372
Texas TX22$4,957+131%$2,653 – $4,957
New Jersey NJ30$4,330+102%$3,591 – $5,339
Virginia VA14$4,223+97%$356 – $4,223
Minnesota MN14$4,052+89%$2,284 – $4,052
New York NY31$3,840+79%$1,136 – $3,884
Wisconsin WI11$2,632+23%$2,632 – $2,632
Iowa IA18$1,298−40%$1,298 – $1,315
Michigan MI26$1,251−42%$1,138 – $1,598
Pennsylvania PA20$1,032−52%$326 – $5,038
Illinois IL13$1,002−53%$404 – $3,546
Oklahoma OK13$869−60%$869 – $4,535
Florida FL9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Ohio OH8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO6not 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
South Carolina SC5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Georgia GA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND1not 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 $2,148.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care325$2,974$973 – $5,110
Children’s11fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access70$1,315$910 – $3,453
Ownership
For-profit45$3,855$898 – $9,426
Government60$1,460$922 – $3,840
Non-profit301$1,957$973 – $4,957
System affiliation
Part of a system318$2,632$1,033 – $5,110
Independent88$1,618$898 – $3,855

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,502
Median cash price$2,148
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

216 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,589 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,306; most fall between $869 and $4,957.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 216 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
$692$973$1,589$4,223$8,410

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($692 vs $8,410).

Of the 236 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 216 gave a usable cash price; 11 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 9 a list price only.

How complete is this

406 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 448 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted406
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here28
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded1
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded12
Hospitals that filed this code448

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 Debridement Limited.

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 limited cleanout of the joint (CPT 29837) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-29837-elbow-arthroscopy-with-limited-cleanout-of-the-joint