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Procedure price report · Arthroscopy

Knee arthroscopy to wash out and drain an infected joint

CPT 29871the billing code this page is about

Keyhole knee surgery in which an infected joint is flushed with fluid and drained.

Hospitals typically charge $1,719 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 603 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,200. Most fall between $882 and $4,881 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
603
States
48
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 603 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
$646$1,002$1,719$4,330$7,525

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($646 vs $7,525).

How the prices are spread

$511 – $688: 45 hospitals$511$688 – $926: 56 hospitals$926 – $1,248: 90 hospitals$926$1,248 – $1,680: 78 hospitals$1,680 – $2,262: 36 hospitals$1,680$2,262 – $3,047: 62 hospitals$3,047 – $4,103: 50 hospitals$3,047$4,103 – $5,525: 62 hospitals$5,525 – $7,440: 33 hospitals$5,525$7,440 – $10,018: 39 hospitals$7,440median $1,719price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (551 of 603 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$511$68845
$688$92656
$926$1,24890
$1,248$1,68078
$1,680$2,26236
$2,262$3,04762
$3,047$4,10350
$4,103$5,52562
$5,525$7,44033
$7,440$10,01839

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$3,343
Median cash price$1,719
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.51×

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 $1,719.

Alaska: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: median $1,315 across 10 hospitalsVT$1,315New Hampshire: median $659 across 10 hospitalsNH$659Washington: median $1,227 across 11 hospitalsWA$1,227Idaho: median $3,810 across 12 hospitalsID$3,810Montana: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $2,062 across 26 hospitalsMN$2,062Illinois: median $1,136 across 23 hospitalsIL$1,136Wisconsin: median $2,710 across 38 hospitalsWI$2,710Michigan: median $1,243 across 32 hospitalsMI$1,243New York: median $1,549 across 39 hospitalsNY$1,549Massachusetts: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: median $1,133 across 20 hospitalsOR$1,133Nevada: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 6 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 $1,262 across 32 hospitalsIA$1,262Indiana: median $713 across 17 hospitalsIN$713Ohio: median $1,267 across 16 hospitalsOH$1,267Pennsylvania: median $396 across 18 hospitalsPA$396New Jersey: median $4,330 across 30 hospitalsNJ$4,330Connecticut: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $5,148 across 46 hospitalsCA$5,148Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: median $1,741 across 13 hospitalsNE$1,741Missouri: median $808 across 10 hospitalsMO$808Kentucky: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: median $882 across 11 hospitalsWV$882Virginia: 3 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: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $1,165 across 12 hospitalsKS$1,165Arkansas: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 7 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: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $1,083 across 14 hospitalsOK$1,083Louisiana: median $2,102 across 10 hospitalsLA$2,102Mississippi: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: median $3,170 across 11 hospitalsAL$3,170Georgia: median $8,264 across 10 hospitalsGA$8,264Hawaii: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $5,603 across 30 hospitalsTX$5,603Florida: median $2,375 across 10 hospitalsFL$2,375
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,719. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Georgia GA10$8,264+381%$8,264 – $9,732
Texas TX30$5,603+226%$1,956 – $6,052
California CA46$5,148+199%$1,280 – $10,018
New Jersey NJ30$4,330+152%$3,591 – $5,339
Idaho ID12$3,810+122%$1,181 – $8,372
Alabama AL11$3,170+84%$1,091 – $7,525
Wisconsin WI38$2,710+58%$2,568 – $4,815
Florida FL10$2,375+38%$1,181 – $11,835
Louisiana LA10$2,102+22%$1,132 – $5,185
Minnesota MN26$2,062+20%$1,123 – $2,989
Nebraska NE13$1,741+1%$1,179 – $2,354
New York NY39$1,549−10%$875 – $3,840
Vermont VT10$1,315−24%$763 – $1,449
Ohio OH16$1,267−26%$930 – $1,914
Iowa IA32$1,262−27%$986 – $1,590
Michigan MI32$1,243−28%$879 – $2,710
Washington WA11$1,227−29%$965 – $1,561
Kansas KS12$1,165−32%$479 – $2,189
Illinois IL23$1,136−34%$646 – $3,444
Oregon OR20$1,133−34%$965 – $1,719
Oklahoma OK14$1,083−37%$1,083 – $6,612
West Virginia WV11$882−49%$551 – $1,405
Missouri MO10$808−53%$656 – $826
Indiana IN17$713−59%$646 – $2,542
New Hampshire NH10$659−62%$421 – $1,205
Pennsylvania PA18$396−77%$323 – $5,486
Kentucky KY9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM1not 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 $1,719.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care399$2,425$937 – $5,488
Children’s12fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access191$1,375$856 – $2,710
Ownership
For-profit57$3,810$1,232 – $9,284
Government118$1,334$897 – $3,840
Non-profit427$1,719$875 – $4,815
System affiliation
Part of a system449$1,914$897 – $5,148
Independent154$1,370$856 – $3,444

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,003
Median cash price$1,719
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

313 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,405 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,049; most fall between $826 and $5,148.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 313 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
$646$923$1,405$4,299$8,264

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 13× what the cheapest tenth charges ($646 vs $8,264).

Of the 353 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 313 gave a usable cash price; 21 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 19 a list price only.

How complete is this

603 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 682 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted603
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here54
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 — excluded23
Hospitals that filed this code682

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 PR Knee Scope,Clean/Drain.

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, “Knee arthroscopy to wash out and drain an infected joint (CPT 29871) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-29871-knee-arthroscopy-to-wash-out-and-drain-an-infected-joint