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Procedure price report · Other diagnostic radiology and related techniques

Radioactive tracer injection to find the sentinel lymph node

CPT 38792the billing code this page is about

Injection of a small amount of radioactive material so the first draining lymph node can be located before or during surgery.

Hospitals typically charge $544 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,162 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $604. Most fall between $242 and $1,165 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,162
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 2,162 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
$131$293$544$1,012$1,699

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 13× what the cheapest tenth charges ($131 vs $1,699).

How the prices are spread

$79 – $113: 77 hospitals$79$113 – $162: 108 hospitals$162 – $232: 109 hospitals$162$232 – $333: 199 hospitals$333 – $477: 327 hospitals$333$477 – $684: 362 hospitals$684 – $980: 303 hospitals$684$980 – $1,406: 253 hospitals$1,406 – $2,015: 149 hospitals$1,406$2,015 – $2,890: 75 hospitals$2,015median $544price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,962 of 2,162 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$79$11377
$113$162108
$162$232109
$232$333199
$333$477327
$477$684362
$684$980303
$980$1,406253
$1,406$2,015149
$2,015$2,89075

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$408
Median cash price$544
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.33×

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 $544.

Alaska: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $234 across 21 hospitalsME$234Vermont: median $776 across 10 hospitalsVT$776New Hampshire: median $338 across 15 hospitalsNH$338Washington: median $380 across 48 hospitalsWA$380Idaho: median $437 across 16 hospitalsID$437Montana: median $113 across 16 hospitalsMT$113North Dakota: median $636 across 10 hospitalsND$636Minnesota: median $408 across 79 hospitalsMN$408Illinois: median $652 across 82 hospitalsIL$652Wisconsin: median $365 across 89 hospitalsWI$365Michigan: median $522 across 66 hospitalsMI$522New York: median $870 across 82 hospitalsNY$870Massachusetts: median $843 across 33 hospitalsMA$843Oregon: median $636 across 44 hospitalsOR$636Nevada: median $434 across 14 hospitalsNV$434Wyoming: median $450 across 10 hospitalsWY$450South Dakota: median $1,177 across 12 hospitalsSD$1,177Iowa: median $401 across 47 hospitalsIA$401Indiana: median $459 across 75 hospitalsIN$459Ohio: median $788 across 118 hospitalsOH$788Pennsylvania: median $577 across 84 hospitalsPA$577New Jersey: median $536 across 53 hospitalsNJ$536Connecticut: median $723 across 18 hospitalsCT$723Rhode Island: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $1,097 across 146 hospitalsCA$1,097Utah: median $391 across 28 hospitalsUT$391Colorado: median $499 across 46 hospitalsCO$499Nebraska: median $401 across 32 hospitalsNE$401Missouri: median $569 across 52 hospitalsMO$569Kentucky: median $617 across 39 hospitalsKY$617West Virginia: median $661 across 24 hospitalsWV$661Virginia: median $498 across 48 hospitalsVA$498Maryland: median $125 across 22 hospitalsMD$125Delaware: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $598 across 31 hospitalsAZ$598New Mexico: median $1,096 across 12 hospitalsNM$1,096Kansas: median $376 across 34 hospitalsKS$376Arkansas: median $468 across 13 hospitalsAR$468Tennessee: median $270 across 56 hospitalsTN$270North Carolina: median $427 across 61 hospitalsNC$427South Carolina: median $668 across 40 hospitalsSC$668Oklahoma: median $515 across 39 hospitalsOK$515Louisiana: median $432 across 43 hospitalsLA$432Mississippi: median $217 across 37 hospitalsMS$217Alabama: median $408 across 31 hospitalsAL$408Georgia: median $1,139 across 65 hospitalsGA$1,139Hawaii: median $345 across 11 hospitalsHI$345Texas: median $731 across 127 hospitalsTX$731Florida: median $1,205 across 69 hospitalsFL$1,205
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $544. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Florida FL69$1,205+122%$784 – $1,675
South Dakota SD12$1,177+116%$438 – $1,320
Georgia GA65$1,139+109%$504 – $1,266
California CA146$1,097+102%$321 – $2,890
New Mexico NM12$1,096+101%$199 – $1,423
New York NY82$870+60%$417 – $1,808
Massachusetts MA33$843+55%$410 – $1,551
Ohio OH118$788+45%$388 – $1,058
Vermont VT10$776+43%$115 – $1,387
Texas TX127$731+34%$399 – $1,482
Connecticut CT18$723+33%$441 – $1,259
South Carolina SC40$668+23%$385 – $1,034
West Virginia WV24$661+21%$92 – $1,008
Illinois IL82$652+20%$253 – $1,491
North Dakota ND10$636+17%$62 – $745
Oregon OR44$636+17%$150 – $895
Kentucky KY39$617+13%$330 – $1,006
Arizona AZ31$598+10%$339 – $1,699
Pennsylvania PA84$577+6%$382 – $1,104
Missouri MO52$569+5%$362 – $1,010
New Jersey NJ53$536−1%$445 – $4,500
Michigan MI66$522−4%$90 – $671
Oklahoma OK39$515−5%$239 – $899
Colorado CO46$499−8%$271 – $1,181
Virginia VA48$498−8%$332 – $788
Arkansas AR13$468−14%$126 – $524
Indiana IN75$459−16%$158 – $874
Wyoming WY10$450−17%$105 – $610
Idaho ID16$437−20%$376 – $962
Nevada NV14$434−20%$304 – $1,470
Louisiana LA43$432−21%$235 – $774
North Carolina NC61$427−22%$343 – $797
Minnesota MN79$408−25%$198 – $636
Alabama AL31$408−25%$205 – $1,764
Iowa IA47$401−26%$150 – $933
Nebraska NE32$401−26%$165 – $604
Utah UT28$391−28%$332 – $391
Washington WA48$380−30%$126 – $886
Kansas KS34$376−31%$156 – $1,628
Wisconsin WI89$365−33%$155 – $597
Hawaii HI11$345−37%$278 – $895
New Hampshire NH15$338−38%$33 – $721
Tennessee TN56$270−50%$168 – $547
Maine ME21$234−57%$90 – $495
Mississippi MS37$217−60%$71 – $358
Maryland MD22$125−77%$81 – $151
Montana MT16$113−79%$64 – $298
Alaska AK6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI3not 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 $544.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,752$590$280 – $1,236
Children’s18fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access385$361$97 – $776
Ownership
For-profit218$592$304 – $1,423
Government329$476$168 – $940
Non-profit1,608$550$245 – $1,140
System affiliation
Part of a system1,804$555$258 – $1,165
Independent358$499$126 – $1,004

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$1,051
Median cash price$544
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

1,602 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $587 and the average of the middle 60% is $640; most fall between $266 and $1,173.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,602 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
$150$332$587$1,067$1,642

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 11× what the cheapest tenth charges ($150 vs $1,642).

Of the 1,716 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,602 gave a usable cash price; 44 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 70 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,162 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (55%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 2,333 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,162
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here85
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 — excluded77
Hospitals that filed this code2,333

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 diagnostic radiology and related techniques family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Inj Radioactive Tracer for ID of Sentinel Node.

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, “Radioactive tracer injection to find the sentinel lymph node (CPT 38792) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-38792-radioactive-tracer-injection-to-find-the-sentinel-lymph-node