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Procedure price report · Other diagnostic procedures of respiratory tract and mediastinum

Diagnostic chest scope exam without biopsy

CPT 32601the billing code this page is about

A camera is inserted through a small chest incision to look at the lungs, lining of the chest, mediastinum, or sac around the heart; no tissue sample is taken.

Hospitals typically charge $1,669 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 471 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,851. Most fall between $573 and $7,132 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
471
States
49
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 471 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
$377$592$1,669$6,463$11,188

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 30× what the cheapest tenth charges ($377 vs $11,188).

How the prices are spread

$225 – $336: 15 hospitals$225$336 – $503: 32 hospitals$503 – $751: 78 hospitals$503$751 – $1,123: 60 hospitals$1,123 – $1,678: 41 hospitals$1,123$1,678 – $2,508: 8 hospitals$2,508 – $3,749: 22 hospitals$2,508$3,749 – $5,603: 40 hospitals$5,603 – $8,374: 82 hospitals$5,603$8,374 – $12,516: 48 hospitals$8,374median $1,669price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (426 of 471 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$225$33615
$336$50332
$503$75178
$751$1,12360
$1,123$1,67841
$1,678$2,5088
$2,508$3,74922
$3,749$5,60340
$5,603$8,37482
$8,374$12,51648

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$6,176
Median cash price$1,669
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.27×

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 $1,669.

Alaska: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMEVermont: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $1,538 across 22 hospitalsIL$1,538Wisconsin: median $1,669 across 26 hospitalsWI$1,669Michigan: median $592 across 31 hospitalsMI$592New York: median $6,904 across 37 hospitalsNY$6,904Massachusetts: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: median $555 across 10 hospitalsOR$555Nevada: 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: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $753 across 19 hospitalsIA$753Indiana: median $850 across 22 hospitalsIN$850Ohio: median $1,383 across 14 hospitalsOH$1,383Pennsylvania: median $4,138 across 21 hospitalsPA$4,138New Jersey: median $6,458 across 33 hospitalsNJ$6,458Connecticut: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $7,737 across 47 hospitalsCA$7,737Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $501 across 12 hospitalsOK$501Louisiana: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $4,737 across 29 hospitalsTX$4,737Florida: median $7,326 across 13 hospitalsFL$7,326
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,669. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA47$7,737+364%$6,443 – $12,516
Florida FL13$7,326+339%$1,430 – $10,322
New York NY37$6,904+314%$598 – $7,176
New Jersey NJ33$6,458+287%$5,110 – $7,785
Texas TX29$4,737+184%$3,431 – $6,761
Pennsylvania PA21$4,138+148%$196 – $9,060
Wisconsin WI26$1,6690%$1,407 – $2,129
Illinois IL22$1,538−8%$584 – $11,188
Ohio OH14$1,383−17%$671 – $3,583
Indiana IN22$850−49%$584 – $1,222
Iowa IA19$753−55%$676 – $753
Michigan MI31$592−65%$592 – $1,669
Oregon OR10$555−67%$555 – $558
Oklahoma OK12$501−70%$501 – $501
Minnesota MN8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD2not 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
Delaware DE1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Georgia GA1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI1not 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 $1,669.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care391$2,729$573 – $7,559
Children’s8fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access71$988$584 – $1,669
Ownership
For-profit40$4,362$584 – $9,284
Government61$874$573 – $6,761
Non-profit369$1,669$558 – $7,264
System affiliation
Part of a system383$1,669$569 – $7,264
Independent88$940$573 – $6,350

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$1,672
Median cash price$1,669
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

282 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,052 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,313; most fall between $512 and $6,544.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 282 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
$311$574$1,052$6,443$12,516

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 40× what the cheapest tenth charges ($311 vs $12,516).

Of the 307 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 282 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 9 a list price only.

How complete is this

471 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (12%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 520 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted471
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here37
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded11
Hospitals that filed this code520

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 23, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Related procedures

Part of the Other diagnostic procedures of respiratory tract and mediastinum family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Thorsc Dx Lungs/Pericar/Med/Pleural Space W/O Bx.

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 chest scope exam without biopsy (CPT 32601) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-32601-diagnostic-chest-scope-exam-without-biopsy