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Procedure price report · Diagnostic bronchoscopy and biopsy of bronchus

Lung airway scope exam with brushing for cell samples

CPT 31623the billing code this page is about

A scope is passed into the airways and a small brush is used to collect cells from the airway lining for laboratory testing.

Hospitals typically charge $1,909 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,419 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,921. Most fall between $710 and $3,572 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,419
States
50
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 1,419 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
$442$852$1,909$3,158$5,237

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($442 vs $5,237).

How the prices are spread

$310 – $428: 60 hospitals$310$428 – $593: 87 hospitals$593 – $820: 114 hospitals$593$820 – $1,134: 117 hospitals$1,134 – $1,568: 142 hospitals$1,134$1,568 – $2,169: 233 hospitals$2,169 – $3,000: 214 hospitals$2,169$3,000 – $4,150: 151 hospitals$4,150 – $5,740: 109 hospitals$4,150$5,740 – $7,939: 52 hospitals$5,740median $1,909price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,279 of 1,419 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$310$42860
$428$59387
$593$820114
$820$1,134117
$1,134$1,568142
$1,568$2,169233
$2,169$3,000214
$3,000$4,150151
$4,150$5,740109
$5,740$7,93952

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$1,818
Median cash price$1,909
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.05×

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 $1,909.

Alaska: 4 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: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $1,953 across 32 hospitalsWA$1,953Idaho: median $4,637 across 12 hospitalsID$4,637Montana: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $1,950 across 35 hospitalsMN$1,950Illinois: median $1,154 across 47 hospitalsIL$1,154Wisconsin: median $1,370 across 53 hospitalsWI$1,370Michigan: median $582 across 38 hospitalsMI$582New York: median $2,113 across 67 hospitalsNY$2,113Massachusetts: median $2,596 across 31 hospitalsMA$2,596Oregon: median $523 across 24 hospitalsOR$523Nevada: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $717 across 29 hospitalsIA$717Indiana: median $1,049 across 39 hospitalsIN$1,049Ohio: median $3,713 across 85 hospitalsOH$3,713Pennsylvania: median $2,168 across 71 hospitalsPA$2,168New Jersey: median $3,986 across 45 hospitalsNJ$3,986Connecticut: median $2,420 across 12 hospitalsCT$2,420Rhode Island: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $2,766 across 121 hospitalsCA$2,766Utah: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $1,868 across 28 hospitalsCO$1,868Nebraska: median $932 across 17 hospitalsNE$932Missouri: median $1,544 across 45 hospitalsMO$1,544Kentucky: median $1,470 across 24 hospitalsKY$1,470West Virginia: median $390 across 22 hospitalsWV$390Virginia: median $2,033 across 44 hospitalsVA$2,033Maryland: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: median $1,511 across 11 hospitalsNM$1,511Kansas: median $1,198 across 19 hospitalsKS$1,198Arkansas: median $746 across 13 hospitalsAR$746Tennessee: median $958 across 31 hospitalsTN$958North Carolina: median $1,416 across 27 hospitalsNC$1,416South Carolina: median $2,009 across 24 hospitalsSC$2,009Oklahoma: median $1,726 across 28 hospitalsOK$1,726Louisiana: median $927 across 31 hospitalsLA$927Mississippi: median $1,857 across 26 hospitalsMS$1,857Alabama: median $2,241 across 20 hospitalsAL$2,241Georgia: median $2,049 across 43 hospitalsGA$2,049Hawaii: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $1,035 across 71 hospitalsTX$1,035Florida: median $2,590 across 60 hospitalsFL$2,590
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,909. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Idaho ID12$4,637+143%$1,629 – $4,755
New Jersey NJ45$3,986+109%$2,031 – $5,741
Ohio OH85$3,713+95%$2,283 – $5,156
California CA121$2,766+45%$844 – $5,537
Massachusetts MA31$2,596+36%$1,786 – $4,886
Florida FL60$2,590+36%$1,527 – $3,389
Connecticut CT12$2,420+27%$730 – $5,715
Alabama AL20$2,241+17%$745 – $6,242
Pennsylvania PA71$2,168+14%$1,632 – $3,599
New York NY67$2,113+11%$527 – $4,595
Georgia GA43$2,049+7%$1,526 – $3,216
Virginia VA44$2,033+6%$1,295 – $2,866
South Carolina SC24$2,009+5%$2,009 – $2,584
Washington WA32$1,953+2%$497 – $3,292
Minnesota MN35$1,950+2%$649 – $2,562
Colorado CO28$1,868−2%$1,028 – $2,152
Mississippi MS26$1,857−3%$914 – $3,099
Oklahoma OK28$1,726−10%$442 – $2,399
Missouri MO45$1,544−19%$716 – $2,800
New Mexico NM11$1,511−21%$1,186 – $2,281
Kentucky KY24$1,470−23%$331 – $4,165
North Carolina NC27$1,416−26%$787 – $1,970
Wisconsin WI53$1,370−28%$1,325 – $2,637
Kansas KS19$1,198−37%$410 – $1,757
Illinois IL47$1,154−40%$579 – $2,993
Indiana IN39$1,049−45%$366 – $14,493
Texas TX71$1,035−46%$821 – $2,567
Tennessee TN31$958−50%$697 – $2,113
Nebraska NE17$932−51%$701 – $1,735
Louisiana LA31$927−51%$706 – $2,113
Arkansas AR13$746−61%$573 – $883
Iowa IA29$717−62%$666 – $3,147
Michigan MI38$582−69%$534 – $2,447
Oregon OR24$523−73%$497 – $4,163
West Virginia WV22$390−80%$137 – $2,770
Arizona AZ9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY3not 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 $1,909.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,199$2,009$821 – $3,786
Children’s24$1,121$551 – $2,800
Critical access189$1,260$450 – $2,562
Ownership
For-profit162$2,149$1,049 – $4,755
Government199$1,583$534 – $2,866
Non-profit1,051$1,932$715 – $3,629
System affiliation
Part of a system1,177$2,009$817 – $3,632
Independent242$1,426$409 – $3,033

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$3,435
Median cash price$1,909
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

982 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,866 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,883; most fall between $697 and $3,231.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 982 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
$380$832$1,866$2,899$4,399

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($380 vs $4,399).

Of the 1,041 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 982 gave a usable cash price; 22 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 37 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,419 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (36%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,524 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,419
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here56
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded6
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded43
Hospitals that filed this code1,524

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 Diagnostic bronchoscopy and biopsy of bronchus family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Brnchsc Brushing/Protected Brushings.

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, “Lung airway scope exam with brushing for cell samples (CPT 31623) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-31623-lung-airway-scope-exam-with-brushing-for-cell-samples