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Procedure price report · Diagnostic bronchoscopy and biopsy of bronchus

Lung airway scope exam with washing of the air sacs

CPT 31624the billing code this page is about

A scope is passed into the airways and salt water is instilled and suctioned back from deep in the lung to collect cells and fluid for testing.

Hospitals typically charge $1,998 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,734 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,053. Most fall between $784 and $3,611 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,734
States
50
Filings dated
Jun 2024 – 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 1,734 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
$427$1,035$1,998$3,236$5,205

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($427 vs $5,205).

How the prices are spread

$297 – $408: 83 hospitals$297$408 – $561: 72 hospitals$561 – $770: 93 hospitals$561$770 – $1,058: 132 hospitals$1,058 – $1,453: 144 hospitals$1,058$1,453 – $1,997: 252 hospitals$1,997 – $2,743: 298 hospitals$1,997$2,743 – $3,769: 256 hospitals$3,769 – $5,177: 141 hospitals$3,769$5,177 – $7,113: 91 hospitals$5,177median $1,998price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,562 of 1,734 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$297$40883
$408$56172
$561$77093
$770$1,058132
$1,058$1,453144
$1,453$1,997252
$1,997$2,743298
$2,743$3,769256
$3,769$5,177141
$5,177$7,11391

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$1,818
Median cash price$1,998
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.10×

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 $1,998.

Alaska: median $2,622 across 11 hospitalsAK$2,622Maine: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $714 across 10 hospitalsNH$714Washington: median $2,780 across 45 hospitalsWA$2,780Idaho: median $2,175 across 15 hospitalsID$2,175Montana: median $582 across 13 hospitalsMT$582North Dakota: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $1,626 across 40 hospitalsMN$1,626Illinois: median $1,545 across 52 hospitalsIL$1,545Wisconsin: median $1,864 across 59 hospitalsWI$1,864Michigan: median $1,764 across 57 hospitalsMI$1,764New York: median $2,041 across 76 hospitalsNY$2,041Massachusetts: median $2,164 across 37 hospitalsMA$2,164Oregon: median $1,437 across 38 hospitalsOR$1,437Nevada: 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: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $2,226 across 29 hospitalsIA$2,226Indiana: median $620 across 41 hospitalsIN$620Ohio: median $2,924 across 101 hospitalsOH$2,924Pennsylvania: median $2,417 across 85 hospitalsPA$2,417New Jersey: median $2,364 across 45 hospitalsNJ$2,364Connecticut: median $2,420 across 15 hospitalsCT$2,420Rhode Island: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $2,682 across 157 hospitalsCA$2,682Utah: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $1,779 across 36 hospitalsCO$1,779Nebraska: median $1,239 across 26 hospitalsNE$1,239Missouri: median $1,416 across 49 hospitalsMO$1,416Kentucky: median $1,366 across 25 hospitalsKY$1,366West Virginia: median $392 across 20 hospitalsWV$392Virginia: median $2,033 across 45 hospitalsVA$2,033Maryland: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $2,444 across 12 hospitalsAZ$2,444New Mexico: median $1,435 across 16 hospitalsNM$1,435Kansas: median $789 across 28 hospitalsKS$789Arkansas: median $641 across 14 hospitalsAR$641Tennessee: median $1,006 across 33 hospitalsTN$1,006North Carolina: median $1,754 across 43 hospitalsNC$1,754South Carolina: median $2,110 across 27 hospitalsSC$2,110Oklahoma: median $1,056 across 30 hospitalsOK$1,056Louisiana: median $1,011 across 33 hospitalsLA$1,011Mississippi: median $1,400 across 34 hospitalsMS$1,400Alabama: median $1,420 across 22 hospitalsAL$1,420Georgia: median $1,994 across 67 hospitalsGA$1,994Hawaii: median $1,132 across 10 hospitalsHI$1,132Texas: median $1,671 across 89 hospitalsTX$1,671Florida: median $3,389 across 84 hospitalsFL$3,389
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,998. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Florida FL84$3,389+70%$1,583 – $5,307
Ohio OH101$2,924+46%$2,246 – $5,156
Washington WA45$2,780+39%$621 – $3,877
California CA157$2,682+34%$1,277 – $5,639
Alaska AK11$2,622+31%$1,743 – $3,584
Arizona AZ12$2,444+22%$355 – $6,126
Connecticut CT15$2,420+21%$690 – $3,432
Pennsylvania PA85$2,417+21%$1,632 – $3,748
New Jersey NJ45$2,364+18%$2,031 – $5,419
Iowa IA29$2,226+11%$623 – $3,145
Idaho ID15$2,175+9%$824 – $4,755
Massachusetts MA37$2,164+8%$1,786 – $3,418
South Carolina SC27$2,110+6%$2,110 – $2,822
New York NY76$2,041+2%$491 – $4,595
Virginia VA45$2,033+2%$1,745 – $2,626
Georgia GA67$1,9940%$1,207 – $3,216
Wisconsin WI59$1,864−7%$1,383 – $2,788
Colorado CO36$1,779−11%$1,093 – $2,172
Michigan MI57$1,764−12%$617 – $3,350
North Carolina NC43$1,754−12%$1,034 – $2,209
Texas TX89$1,671−16%$1,035 – $3,649
Minnesota MN40$1,626−19%$654 – $3,334
Illinois IL52$1,545−23%$819 – $3,228
Oregon OR38$1,437−28%$485 – $4,163
New Mexico NM16$1,435−28%$913 – $3,245
Alabama AL22$1,420−29%$705 – $5,292
Missouri MO49$1,416−29%$716 – $2,836
Mississippi MS34$1,400−30%$614 – $2,750
Kentucky KY25$1,366−32%$350 – $6,924
Nebraska NE26$1,239−38%$485 – $1,632
Hawaii HI10$1,132−43%$325 – $1,619
Oklahoma OK30$1,056−47%$304 – $2,519
Louisiana LA33$1,011−49%$705 – $2,272
Tennessee TN33$1,006−50%$770 – $2,124
Kansas KS28$789−61%$443 – $1,816
New Hampshire NH10$714−64%$124 – $1,377
Arkansas AR14$641−68%$534 – $1,152
Indiana IN41$620−69%$237 – $4,326
Montana MT13$582−71%$194 – $1,962
West Virginia WV20$392−80%$139 – $1,543
North Dakota ND8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT4not 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 $1,998.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,456$2,089$954 – $3,815
Children’s39$1,882$705 – $3,821
Critical access231$1,172$376 – $2,788
Ownership
For-profit191$2,234$1,122 – $5,136
Government242$1,671$536 – $3,092
Non-profit1,293$1,998$787 – $3,611
System affiliation
Part of a system1,436$2,063$919 – $3,712
Independent298$1,553$408 – $3,099

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$3,629
Median cash price$1,998
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

1,257 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $2,095 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,115; most fall between $913 and $3,572.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,257 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
$465$1,093$2,095$3,216$5,132

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 11× what the cheapest tenth charges ($465 vs $5,132).

Of the 1,334 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,257 gave a usable cash price; 31 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 46 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,734 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (44%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,861 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,734
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here64
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded9
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded54
Hospitals that filed this code1,861

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 W/Brncl Alveolar Lavage.

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 washing of the air sacs (CPT 31624) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-31624-lung-airway-scope-exam-with-washing-of-the-air-sacs