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Procedure price report · Other therapeutic procedures, hemic and lymphatic system

Open biopsy or removal of a surface lymph node

CPT 38500the billing code this page is about

Surgical removal of one or more lymph nodes lying just under the skin, through an incision, for biopsy or treatment.

Hospitals typically charge $2,406 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,350 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,645. Most fall between $572 and $5,977 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,350
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 1,350 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
$392$688$2,406$5,063$10,897

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 28× what the cheapest tenth charges ($392 vs $10,897).

How the prices are spread

$295 – $435: 103 hospitals$295$435 – $642: 147 hospitals$642 – $948: 155 hospitals$642$948 – $1,400: 68 hospitals$1,400 – $2,066: 82 hospitals$1,400$2,066 – $3,051: 129 hospitals$3,051 – $4,504: 192 hospitals$3,051$4,504 – $6,650: 181 hospitals$6,650 – $9,817: 73 hospitals$6,650$9,817 – $14,494: 86 hospitals$9,817median $2,406price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,216 of 1,350 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$295$435103
$435$642147
$642$948155
$948$1,40068
$1,400$2,06682
$2,066$3,051129
$3,051$4,504192
$4,504$6,650181
$6,650$9,81773
$9,817$14,49486

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$4,000
Median cash price$2,406
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.60×

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 $2,406.

Alaska: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $761 across 14 hospitalsME$761Vermont: median $489 across 11 hospitalsVT$489New Hampshire: median $431 across 11 hospitalsNH$431Washington: median $1,800 across 47 hospitalsWA$1,800Idaho: median $3,107 across 17 hospitalsID$3,107Montana: median $497 across 14 hospitalsMT$497North Dakota: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $1,574 across 51 hospitalsMN$1,574Illinois: median $1,629 across 58 hospitalsIL$1,629Wisconsin: median $1,205 across 55 hospitalsWI$1,205Michigan: median $831 across 50 hospitalsMI$831New York: median $4,020 across 70 hospitalsNY$4,020Massachusetts: median $4,329 across 25 hospitalsMA$4,329Oregon: median $811 across 30 hospitalsOR$811Nevada: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: median $4,397 across 11 hospitalsSD$4,397Iowa: median $796 across 52 hospitalsIA$796Indiana: median $2,626 across 30 hospitalsIN$2,626Ohio: median $3,973 across 37 hospitalsOH$3,973Pennsylvania: median $2,046 across 51 hospitalsPA$2,046New Jersey: median $4,874 across 37 hospitalsNJ$4,874Connecticut: median $3,348 across 11 hospitalsCT$3,348Rhode Island: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $5,126 across 81 hospitalsCA$5,126Utah: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $1,425 across 18 hospitalsCO$1,425Nebraska: median $821 across 21 hospitalsNE$821Missouri: median $1,102 across 41 hospitalsMO$1,102Kentucky: median $740 across 23 hospitalsKY$740West Virginia: median $1,694 across 27 hospitalsWV$1,694Virginia: median $6,040 across 31 hospitalsVA$6,040Maryland: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $2,079 across 14 hospitalsAZ$2,079New Mexico: median $2,677 across 10 hospitalsNM$2,677Kansas: median $639 across 34 hospitalsKS$639Arkansas: median $927 across 17 hospitalsAR$927Tennessee: median $3,664 across 17 hospitalsTN$3,664North Carolina: median $1,886 across 27 hospitalsNC$1,886South Carolina: median $6,501 across 23 hospitalsSC$6,501Oklahoma: median $786 across 23 hospitalsOK$786Louisiana: median $1,991 across 23 hospitalsLA$1,991Mississippi: median $1,507 across 21 hospitalsMS$1,507Alabama: median $3,853 across 19 hospitalsAL$3,853Georgia: median $2,948 across 44 hospitalsGA$2,948Hawaii: median $2,531 across 10 hospitalsHI$2,531Texas: median $4,135 across 68 hospitalsTX$4,135Florida: median $8,382 across 30 hospitalsFL$8,382
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $2,406. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Florida FL30$8,382+248%$1,736 – $12,445
South Carolina SC23$6,501+170%$3,665 – $6,501
Virginia VA31$6,040+151%$2,717 – $14,160
California CA81$5,126+113%$2,526 – $13,726
New Jersey NJ37$4,874+103%$4,238 – $5,855
South Dakota SD11$4,397+83%$1,023 – $4,397
Massachusetts MA25$4,329+80%$2,184 – $11,890
Texas TX68$4,135+72%$3,227 – $6,400
New York NY70$4,020+67%$562 – $4,595
Ohio OH37$3,973+65%$454 – $15,050
Alabama AL19$3,853+60%$930 – $6,887
Tennessee TN17$3,664+52%$344 – $5,530
Connecticut CT11$3,348+39%$1,475 – $7,002
Idaho ID17$3,107+29%$825 – $10,392
Georgia GA44$2,948+23%$163 – $5,810
New Mexico NM10$2,677+11%$485 – $8,576
Indiana IN30$2,626+9%$420 – $9,545
Hawaii HI10$2,531+5%$406 – $4,797
Arizona AZ14$2,079−14%$786 – $8,129
Pennsylvania PA51$2,046−15%$392 – $5,946
Louisiana LA23$1,991−17%$1,002 – $4,420
North Carolina NC27$1,886−22%$283 – $5,252
Washington WA47$1,800−25%$681 – $4,157
West Virginia WV27$1,694−30%$282 – $4,556
Illinois IL58$1,629−32%$708 – $6,826
Minnesota MN51$1,574−35%$599 – $3,839
Mississippi MS21$1,507−37%$452 – $3,119
Colorado CO18$1,425−41%$566 – $5,579
Wisconsin WI55$1,205−50%$890 – $2,074
Missouri MO41$1,102−54%$462 – $5,977
Arkansas AR17$927−61%$611 – $4,410
Michigan MI50$831−65%$307 – $4,358
Nebraska NE21$821−66%$667 – $1,245
Oregon OR30$811−66%$615 – $2,089
Iowa IA52$796−67%$510 – $1,044
Oklahoma OK23$786−67%$491 – $7,807
Maine ME14$761−68%$458 – $1,914
Kentucky KY23$740−69%$386 – $1,787
Kansas KS34$639−73%$484 – $2,681
Montana MT14$497−79%$313 – $1,181
Vermont VT11$489−80%$397 – $3,971
New Hampshire NH11$431−82%$239 – $839
Alaska AK9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT2not 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 $2,406.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care955$3,882$761 – $7,002
Children’s15fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access379$780$465 – $2,241
Ownership
For-profit134$4,180$1,648 – $11,033
Government278$1,053$515 – $4,275
Non-profit937$2,524$572 – $6,040
System affiliation
Part of a system1,044$2,948$615 – $6,478
Independent306$1,072$515 – $4,410

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$3,427
Median cash price$2,406
Cash as a share of list, median hospital65%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 35%. 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

772 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $2,074 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,334; most fall between $503 and $5,331.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 772 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
$390$616$2,074$4,483$8,382

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 21× what the cheapest tenth charges ($390 vs $8,382).

Of the 854 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 772 gave a usable cash price; 35 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 47 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,350 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (34%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,486 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,350
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here73
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded8
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded54
Hospitals that filed this code1,486

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 Other therapeutic procedures, hemic and lymphatic system family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Bx/Exc Lymph Node Open Superficial.

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, “Open biopsy or removal of a surface lymph node (CPT 38500) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-38500-open-biopsy-or-removal-of-a-surface-lymph-node