HRHospitalRates.comCompare prices

Procedure price report · Other vascular catheterization, not heart

Catheter placed into the portal vein through the skin

CPT 36481the billing code this page is about

A needle and catheter are passed through the skin into the portal vein of the liver for diagnosis or treatment.

Hospitals typically charge $1,541 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,387 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,708. Most fall between $603 and $3,308 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,387
States
50
Filings dated
Feb 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 1,387 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
$432$755$1,541$2,940$4,618

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 11× what the cheapest tenth charges ($432 vs $4,618).

How the prices are spread

$302 – $407: 50 hospitals$302$407 – $549: 111 hospitals$549 – $740: 111 hospitals$549$740 – $999: 132 hospitals$999 – $1,346: 138 hospitals$999$1,346 – $1,816: 142 hospitals$1,816 – $2,448: 169 hospitals$1,816$2,448 – $3,301: 187 hospitals$3,301 – $4,452: 128 hospitals$3,301$4,452 – $6,003: 91 hospitals$4,452median $1,541price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,259 of 1,387 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$302$40750
$407$549111
$549$740111
$740$999132
$999$1,346138
$1,346$1,816142
$1,816$2,448169
$2,448$3,301187
$3,301$4,452128
$4,452$6,00391

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $1,541.

Alaska: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $1,582 across 42 hospitalsWA$1,582Idaho: median $3,822 across 10 hospitalsID$3,822Montana: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $1,369 across 38 hospitalsMN$1,369Illinois: median $1,664 across 62 hospitalsIL$1,664Wisconsin: median $1,149 across 50 hospitalsWI$1,149Michigan: median $1,953 across 47 hospitalsMI$1,953New York: median $1,159 across 36 hospitalsNY$1,159Massachusetts: median $1,401 across 22 hospitalsMA$1,401Oregon: median $1,078 across 37 hospitalsOR$1,078Nevada: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $2,074 across 22 hospitalsIA$2,074Indiana: median $1,961 across 43 hospitalsIN$1,961Ohio: median $1,278 across 81 hospitalsOH$1,278Pennsylvania: median $1,078 across 56 hospitalsPA$1,078New Jersey: median $2,718 across 31 hospitalsNJ$2,718Connecticut: median $3,570 across 12 hospitalsCT$3,570Rhode Island: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $2,605 across 120 hospitalsCA$2,605Utah: median $1,912 across 27 hospitalsUT$1,912Colorado: median $2,992 across 29 hospitalsCO$2,992Nebraska: median $999 across 16 hospitalsNE$999Missouri: median $2,498 across 30 hospitalsMO$2,498Kentucky: median $3,694 across 18 hospitalsKY$3,694West Virginia: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $727 across 32 hospitalsVA$727Maryland: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $967 across 31 hospitalsAZ$967New Mexico: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $547 across 29 hospitalsTN$547North Carolina: median $1,566 across 30 hospitalsNC$1,566South Carolina: median $1,185 across 24 hospitalsSC$1,185Oklahoma: median $885 across 18 hospitalsOK$885Louisiana: median $1,969 across 21 hospitalsLA$1,969Mississippi: median $631 across 16 hospitalsMS$631Alabama: median $930 across 17 hospitalsAL$930Georgia: median $1,259 across 52 hospitalsGA$1,259Hawaii: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $2,244 across 123 hospitalsTX$2,244Florida: median $1,132 across 74 hospitalsFL$1,132
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,541. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Idaho ID10$3,822+148%$1,912 – $4,340
Kentucky KY18$3,694+140%$916 – $3,862
Connecticut CT12$3,570+132%$1,832 – $5,275
Colorado CO29$2,992+94%$1,831 – $4,094
New Jersey NJ31$2,718+76%$387 – $5,110
California CA120$2,605+69%$654 – $4,504
Missouri MO30$2,498+62%$846 – $3,726
Texas TX123$2,244+46%$594 – $3,386
Iowa IA22$2,074+35%$931 – $4,687
Louisiana LA21$1,969+28%$720 – $3,442
Indiana IN43$1,961+27%$955 – $2,784
Michigan MI47$1,953+27%$1,149 – $5,914
Utah UT27$1,912+24%$1,832 – $2,249
Illinois IL62$1,664+8%$687 – $3,864
Washington WA42$1,582+3%$566 – $2,322
North Carolina NC30$1,566+2%$727 – $2,157
Massachusetts MA22$1,401−9%$593 – $3,671
Minnesota MN38$1,369−11%$974 – $3,010
Ohio OH81$1,278−17%$565 – $2,141
Georgia GA52$1,259−18%$482 – $3,125
South Carolina SC24$1,185−23%$1,063 – $3,674
New York NY36$1,159−25%$667 – $2,479
Wisconsin WI50$1,149−25%$880 – $2,816
Florida FL74$1,132−27%$637 – $2,250
Pennsylvania PA56$1,078−30%$215 – $3,666
Oregon OR37$1,078−30%$824 – $3,564
Nebraska NE16$999−35%$557 – $1,512
Arizona AZ31$967−37%$525 – $4,759
Alabama AL17$930−40%$378 – $2,429
Oklahoma OK18$885−43%$490 – $2,672
Virginia VA32$727−53%$419 – $1,196
Mississippi MS16$631−59%$403 – $1,119
Tennessee TN29$547−65%$427 – $800
Arkansas AR9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not 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 $1,541.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,213$1,522$594 – $3,265
Children’s39$2,940$856 – $6,234
Critical access128$1,912$741 – $3,128
Ownership
For-profit131$2,134$727 – $3,666
Government154$1,196$525 – $2,533
Non-profit1,095$1,541$610 – $3,328
System affiliation
Part of a system1,242$1,586$630 – $3,198
Independent145$1,278$562 – $3,674

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,800
Median cash price$1,541
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

1,138 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,549 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,717; most fall between $616 and $3,125.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,138 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
$472$797$1,549$2,816$4,425

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.4× what the cheapest tenth charges ($472 vs $4,425).

Of the 1,219 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,138 gave a usable cash price; 25 carried a plausibility flag, 2 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 54 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,387 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (35%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,536 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,387
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here49
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded2
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded98
Hospitals that filed this code1,536

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 Other vascular catheterization, not heart family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as PR Percut Portal Vein Cath.

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, “Catheter placed into the portal vein through the skin (CPT 36481) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-36481-catheter-placed-into-the-portal-vein-through-the-skin