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

Open biopsy or removal of deep neck lymph nodes

CPT 38510the billing code this page is about

Through an incision in the neck, the surgeon removes one or more deep-lying neck lymph nodes for biopsy or treatment.

Hospitals typically charge $3,227 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,091 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $3,147. Most fall between $919 and $6,839 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,091
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 1,091 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$1,069$3,227$5,454$11,686

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 18× what the cheapest tenth charges ($650 vs $11,686).

How the prices are spread

$502 – $707: 82 hospitals$502$707 – $997: 121 hospitals$997 – $1,406: 121 hospitals$997$1,406 – $1,983: 70 hospitals$1,983 – $2,797: 81 hospitals$1,983$2,797 – $3,944: 103 hospitals$3,944 – $5,562: 204 hospitals$3,944$5,562 – $7,843: 69 hospitals$7,843 – $11,060: 74 hospitals$7,843$11,060 – $15,596: 77 hospitals$11,060median $3,227price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,002 of 1,091 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$502$70782
$707$997121
$997$1,406121
$1,406$1,98370
$1,983$2,79781
$2,797$3,944103
$3,944$5,562204
$5,562$7,84369
$7,843$11,06074
$11,060$15,59677

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$4,000
Median cash price$3,227
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.81×

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 $3,227.

Alaska: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $966 across 11 hospitalsME$966Vermont: median $728 across 10 hospitalsVT$728New Hampshire: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $4,157 across 39 hospitalsWA$4,157Idaho: median $5,624 across 15 hospitalsID$5,624Montana: median $1,083 across 10 hospitalsMT$1,083North Dakota: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $1,487 across 41 hospitalsMN$1,487Illinois: median $1,836 across 46 hospitalsIL$1,836Wisconsin: median $3,488 across 39 hospitalsWI$3,488Michigan: median $1,299 across 45 hospitalsMI$1,299New York: median $4,531 across 68 hospitalsNY$4,531Massachusetts: median $5,349 across 21 hospitalsMA$5,349Oregon: median $1,157 across 21 hospitalsOR$1,157Nevada: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 7 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 $1,290 across 45 hospitalsIA$1,290Indiana: median $1,032 across 26 hospitalsIN$1,032Ohio: median $5,042 across 38 hospitalsOH$5,042Pennsylvania: median $4,626 across 38 hospitalsPA$4,626New Jersey: median $4,510 across 42 hospitalsNJ$4,510Connecticut: 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 $5,075 across 74 hospitalsCA$5,075Utah: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $1,788 across 16 hospitalsCO$1,788Nebraska: median $1,246 across 20 hospitalsNE$1,246Missouri: median $2,451 across 29 hospitalsMO$2,451Kentucky: median $554 across 14 hospitalsKY$554West Virginia: median $1,378 across 24 hospitalsWV$1,378Virginia: median $5,221 across 21 hospitalsVA$5,221Maryland: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $1,489 across 31 hospitalsKS$1,489Arkansas: median $2,747 across 13 hospitalsAR$2,747Tennessee: median $1,891 across 12 hospitalsTN$1,891North Carolina: median $3,271 across 14 hospitalsNC$3,271South Carolina: median $3,965 across 21 hospitalsSC$3,965Oklahoma: median $810 across 18 hospitalsOK$810Louisiana: median $2,534 across 20 hospitalsLA$2,534Mississippi: median $2,555 across 15 hospitalsMS$2,555Alabama: median $3,494 across 15 hospitalsAL$3,494Georgia: median $3,908 across 19 hospitalsGA$3,908Hawaii: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $4,489 across 64 hospitalsTX$4,489Florida: median $10,281 across 15 hospitalsFL$10,281
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $3,227. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Florida FL15$10,281+219%$4,256 – $12,445
Idaho ID15$5,624+74%$1,294 – $10,392
Massachusetts MA21$5,349+66%$2,445 – $11,276
Virginia VA21$5,221+62%$1,395 – $18,635
California CA74$5,075+57%$1,743 – $15,596
Ohio OH38$5,042+56%$972 – $15,060
Pennsylvania PA38$4,626+43%$1,159 – $9,034
New York NY68$4,531+40%$698 – $4,595
New Jersey NJ42$4,510+40%$3,986 – $6,311
Texas TX64$4,489+39%$3,227 – $6,310
Washington WA39$4,157+29%$1,052 – $5,560
South Carolina SC21$3,965+23%$3,965 – $5,042
Georgia GA19$3,908+21%$957 – $5,810
Alabama AL15$3,494+8%$1,464 – $8,394
Wisconsin WI39$3,488+8%$2,000 – $3,587
North Carolina NC14$3,271+1%$919 – $9,735
Arkansas AR13$2,747−15%$1,087 – $5,766
Mississippi MS15$2,555−21%$1,101 – $7,582
Louisiana LA20$2,534−21%$1,447 – $5,324
Missouri MO29$2,451−24%$756 – $6,849
Tennessee TN12$1,891−41%$552 – $6,407
Illinois IL46$1,836−43%$989 – $7,384
Colorado CO16$1,788−45%$1,013 – $5,723
Kansas KS31$1,489−54%$800 – $3,688
Minnesota MN41$1,487−54%$890 – $2,871
West Virginia WV24$1,378−57%$464 – $4,195
Michigan MI45$1,299−60%$595 – $5,384
Iowa IA45$1,290−60%$818 – $2,271
Nebraska NE20$1,246−61%$990 – $2,141
Oregon OR21$1,157−64%$965 – $2,534
Montana MT10$1,083−66%$631 – $1,589
Indiana IN26$1,032−68%$502 – $7,611
Maine ME11$966−70%$817 – $1,861
Oklahoma OK18$810−75%$810 – $7,807
Vermont VT10$728−77%$237 – $1,421
Kentucky KY14$554−83%$509 – $2,918
Connecticut CT9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE1not 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 $3,227.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care792$3,986$1,172 – $8,524
Children’s16fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access282$1,200$750 – $3,275
Ownership
For-profit112$5,218$1,912 – $11,297
Government207$1,742$839 – $4,920
Non-profit771$3,256$930 – $6,335
System affiliation
Part of a system838$3,688$1,013 – $7,807
Independent253$1,526$795 – $4,948

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$3,918
Median cash price$3,227
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

563 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $2,127 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,508; most fall between $810 and $5,221.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 563 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
$552$903$2,127$4,948$8,742

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 16× what the cheapest tenth charges ($552 vs $8,742).

Of the 619 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 563 gave a usable cash price; 20 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 36 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,091 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (28%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,204 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,091
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here63
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded5
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded44
Hospitals that filed this code1,204

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 PR Bx/Remv,Lymph Node,Deep Cerv.

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 deep neck lymph nodes (CPT 38510) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-38510-open-biopsy-or-removal-of-deep-neck-lymph-nodes