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Procedure price report · Extracorporeal circulation auxiliary to open heart procedures

Starting ECMO life support, vein-to-artery

CPT 33947the billing code this page is about

Setting up and starting an external machine that pumps and oxygenates blood, drawing from a vein and returning to an artery; covers the initiation only, not daily upkeep.

Hospitals typically charge $3,475 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 888 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $3,935. Most fall between $846 and $9,270 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
888
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 888 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
$613$1,111$3,475$7,784$17,539

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 29× what the cheapest tenth charges ($613 vs $17,539).

How the prices are spread

$424 – $643: 51 hospitals$424$643 – $974: 114 hospitals$974 – $1,475: 50 hospitals$974$1,475 – $2,234: 72 hospitals$2,234 – $3,384: 109 hospitals$2,234$3,384 – $5,126: 108 hospitals$5,126 – $7,765: 115 hospitals$5,126$7,765 – $11,762: 97 hospitals$11,762 – $17,817: 46 hospitals$11,762$17,817 – $26,989: 42 hospitals$17,817median $3,475price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (804 of 888 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$424$64351
$643$974114
$974$1,47550
$1,475$2,23472
$2,234$3,384109
$3,384$5,126108
$5,126$7,765115
$7,765$11,76297
$11,762$17,81746
$17,817$26,98942

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $3,475.

Alaska: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $4,439 across 26 hospitalsWA$4,439Idaho: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $3,095 across 26 hospitalsMN$3,095Illinois: median $3,489 across 31 hospitalsIL$3,489Wisconsin: median $1,729 across 35 hospitalsWI$1,729Michigan: median $866 across 51 hospitalsMI$866New York: median $995 across 26 hospitalsNY$995Massachusetts: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: median $19,241 across 11 hospitalsOR$19,241Nevada: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $844 across 18 hospitalsIA$844Indiana: median $1,567 across 26 hospitalsIN$1,567Ohio: median $3,067 across 67 hospitalsOH$3,067Pennsylvania: median $1,809 across 49 hospitalsPA$1,809New Jersey: median $4,627 across 21 hospitalsNJ$4,627Connecticut: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $4,084 across 71 hospitalsCA$4,084Utah: median $3,108 across 22 hospitalsUT$3,108Colorado: median $3,016 across 18 hospitalsCO$3,016Nebraska: median $5,694 across 11 hospitalsNE$5,694Missouri: median $3,950 across 13 hospitalsMO$3,950Kentucky: median $943 across 10 hospitalsKY$943West Virginia: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $1,163 across 27 hospitalsVA$1,163Maryland: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $5,517 across 17 hospitalsAZ$5,517New Mexico: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $2,242 across 25 hospitalsTN$2,242North Carolina: median $17,529 across 15 hospitalsNC$17,529South Carolina: median $4,815 across 14 hospitalsSC$4,815Oklahoma: median $7,385 across 16 hospitalsOK$7,385Louisiana: median $1,273 across 11 hospitalsLA$1,273Mississippi: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: median $6,120 across 10 hospitalsAL$6,120Georgia: median $3,417 across 40 hospitalsGA$3,417Hawaii: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $4,321 across 59 hospitalsTX$4,321Florida: median $9,233 across 36 hospitalsFL$9,233
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $3,475. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Oregon OR11$19,241+454%$613 – $19,241
North Carolina NC15$17,529+404%$2,890 – $17,529
Florida FL36$9,233+166%$4,753 – $38,165
Oklahoma OK16$7,385+113%$7,385 – $11,400
Alabama AL10$6,120+76%$1,111 – $51,593
Nebraska NE11$5,694+64%$547 – $5,694
Arizona AZ17$5,517+59%$672 – $9,270
South Carolina SC14$4,815+39%$4,815 – $13,054
New Jersey NJ21$4,627+33%$1,965 – $5,741
Washington WA26$4,439+28%$2,614 – $7,784
Texas TX59$4,321+24%$2,730 – $9,392
California CA71$4,084+18%$846 – $15,507
Missouri MO13$3,950+14%$3,615 – $8,342
Illinois IL31$3,4890%$674 – $6,577
Georgia GA40$3,417−2%$2,176 – $9,119
Utah UT22$3,108−11%$3,108 – $3,492
Minnesota MN26$3,095−11%$2,610 – $3,912
Ohio OH67$3,067−12%$1,792 – $25,353
Colorado CO18$3,016−13%$997 – $6,741
Tennessee TN25$2,242−35%$827 – $2,579
Pennsylvania PA49$1,809−48%$645 – $6,313
Wisconsin WI35$1,729−50%$676 – $4,757
Indiana IN26$1,567−55%$513 – $12,217
Louisiana LA11$1,273−63%$858 – $11,056
Virginia VA27$1,163−67%$771 – $20,142
New York NY26$995−71%$679 – $5,513
Kentucky KY10$943−73%$349 – $943
Michigan MI51$866−75%$424 – $5,991
Iowa IA18$844−76%$844 – $6,111
Connecticut CT9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY1not 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 $3,475.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care778$3,489$846 – $9,239
Children’s31$9,968$3,108 – $22,876
Critical access74$2,579$676 – $5,152
Ownership
For-profit69$3,153$866 – $11,294
Government81$4,970$1,111 – $17,529
Non-profit733$3,417$846 – $9,119
System affiliation
Part of a system805$3,492$846 – $9,239
Independent83$1,629$674 – $11,979

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$5,632
Median cash price$3,475
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

747 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $3,153 and the average of the middle 60% is $3,772; most fall between $846 and $9,119.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 747 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
$650$1,035$3,153$7,385$17,529

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 27× what the cheapest tenth charges ($650 vs $17,529).

Of the 796 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 747 gave a usable cash price; 18 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 31 a list price only.

How complete is this

888 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (22%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 965 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted888
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here27
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 — excluded49
Hospitals that filed this code965

Sections not shown for this setting

  • Against Medicare: Medicare has no separately payable national outpatient (OPPS) rate for this code, so there is nothing honest to compare against.
  • 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 Extracorporeal circulation auxiliary to open heart procedures family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Ecmo/Ecls Initiation Veno-Arterial.

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, “Starting ECMO life support, vein-to-artery (CPT 33947) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-33947-starting-ecmo-life-support-vein-to-artery