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Procedure price report · Arthroscopy

Diagnostic knee arthroscopy, with or without tissue sample

CPT 29870the billing code this page is about

Keyhole examination of the knee joint with a camera to look for problems, which may include taking a sample of the joint lining.

Hospitals typically charge $2,034 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 692 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,430. Most fall between $825 and $5,148 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
692
States
47
Filings dated
Aug 2022 – 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 692 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
$637$915$2,034$4,594$8,770

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 14× what the cheapest tenth charges ($637 vs $8,770).

How the prices are spread

$446 – $620: 31 hospitals$446$620 – $863: 84 hospitals$863 – $1,200: 101 hospitals$863$1,200 – $1,670: 66 hospitals$1,670 – $2,324: 50 hospitals$1,670$2,324 – $3,234: 57 hospitals$3,234 – $4,501: 92 hospitals$3,234$4,501 – $6,263: 63 hospitals$6,263 – $8,715: 31 hospitals$6,263$8,715 – $12,126: 49 hospitals$8,715median $2,034price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (624 of 692 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$446$62031
$620$86384
$863$1,200101
$1,200$1,67066
$1,670$2,32450
$2,324$3,23457
$3,234$4,50192
$4,501$6,26363
$6,263$8,71531
$8,715$12,12649

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$3,343
Median cash price$2,034
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.61×

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 $2,034.

Alaska: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $1,182 across 18 hospitalsWA$1,182Idaho: median $3,855 across 16 hospitalsID$3,855Montana: median $883 across 10 hospitalsMT$883North Dakota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $2,086 across 25 hospitalsMN$2,086Illinois: median $1,194 across 27 hospitalsIL$1,194Wisconsin: median $2,674 across 37 hospitalsWI$2,674Michigan: median $933 across 37 hospitalsMI$933New York: median $3,343 across 35 hospitalsNY$3,343Massachusetts: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: median $1,572 across 21 hospitalsOR$1,572Nevada: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 6 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 $1,402 across 34 hospitalsIA$1,402Indiana: median $670 across 11 hospitalsIN$670Ohio: median $1,347 across 18 hospitalsOH$1,347Pennsylvania: median $1,263 across 25 hospitalsPA$1,263New Jersey: median $4,330 across 32 hospitalsNJ$4,330Connecticut: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $5,148 across 55 hospitalsCA$5,148Utah: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $1,250 across 11 hospitalsCO$1,250Nebraska: median $1,320 across 18 hospitalsNE$1,320Missouri: median $915 across 16 hospitalsMO$915Kentucky: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: median $1,159 across 19 hospitalsWV$1,159Virginia: 5 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: 6 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 $1,001 across 16 hospitalsKS$1,001Arkansas: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $1,425 across 12 hospitalsTN$1,425North Carolina: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $901 across 16 hospitalsOK$901Louisiana: median $4,792 across 10 hospitalsLA$4,792Mississippi: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: median $3,170 across 13 hospitalsAL$3,170Georgia: median $8,718 across 11 hospitalsGA$8,718Hawaii: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $3,980 across 34 hospitalsTX$3,980Florida: median $12,781 across 13 hospitalsFL$12,781
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $2,034. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Florida FL13$12,781+528%$1,485 – $17,660
Georgia GA11$8,718+329%$8,718 – $9,732
California CA55$5,148+153%$1,110 – $8,770
Louisiana LA10$4,792+136%$2,512 – $8,991
New Jersey NJ32$4,330+113%$3,594 – $5,419
Texas TX34$3,980+96%$1,707 – $7,130
Idaho ID16$3,855+90%$1,116 – $8,372
New York NY35$3,343+64%$668 – $3,840
Alabama AL13$3,170+56%$1,113 – $16,009
Wisconsin WI37$2,674+31%$2,034 – $3,589
Minnesota MN25$2,086+3%$987 – $2,739
Oregon OR21$1,572−23%$1,031 – $1,842
Tennessee TN12$1,425−30%$765 – $5,552
Iowa IA34$1,402−31%$825 – $1,409
Ohio OH18$1,347−34%$790 – $7,414
Nebraska NE18$1,320−35%$609 – $2,913
Pennsylvania PA25$1,263−38%$271 – $5,038
Colorado CO11$1,250−39%$1,068 – $3,065
Illinois IL27$1,194−41%$738 – $6,552
Washington WA18$1,182−42%$957 – $2,303
West Virginia WV19$1,159−43%$446 – $5,754
Kansas KS16$1,001−51%$830 – $3,519
Michigan MI37$933−54%$802 – $2,674
Missouri MO16$915−55%$607 – $4,146
Oklahoma OK16$901−56%$901 – $4,535
Montana MT10$883−57%$455 – $1,788
Indiana IN11$670−67%$669 – $1,652
Kentucky KY9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD1not 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 $2,034.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care456$3,190$901 – $6,394
Children’s18fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access217$1,220$740 – $2,739
Ownership
For-profit75$4,720$1,001 – $9,815
Government140$1,397$820 – $3,840
Non-profit476$2,034$806 – $5,148
System affiliation
Part of a system509$2,674$872 – $5,754
Independent183$1,442$782 – $4,233

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,241
Median cash price$2,034
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

353 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,466 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,233; most fall between $738 and $5,148.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 353 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
$609$815$1,466$4,263$8,718

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 14× what the cheapest tenth charges ($609 vs $8,718).

Of the 395 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 353 gave a usable cash price; 16 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 26 a list price only.

How complete is this

692 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (17%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 766 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted692
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 — excluded3
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded25
Hospitals that filed this code766

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 Arthroscopy family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Arthroscopy Knee Diagnostic W/WO Synovial Bx Spx.

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, “Diagnostic knee arthroscopy, with or without tissue sample (CPT 29870) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-29870-diagnostic-knee-arthroscopy-with-or-without-tissue-sample