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

Placement of a tube into the main chest lymph duct

CPT 38794the billing code this page is about

Surgical access to the thoracic duct, the large lymph channel in the chest, to place a tube for drainage or injection.

Hospitals typically charge $919 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 549 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,169. Most fall between $440 and $2,909 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
549
States
47
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 549 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
$347$489$919$2,309$4,503

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 13× what the cheapest tenth charges ($347 vs $4,503).

How the prices are spread

$234 – $322: 18 hospitals$234$322 – $443: 65 hospitals$443 – $610: 67 hospitals$443$610 – $841: 81 hospitals$841 – $1,158: 69 hospitals$841$1,158 – $1,595: 32 hospitals$1,595 – $2,197: 43 hospitals$1,595$2,197 – $3,026: 42 hospitals$3,026 – $4,168: 38 hospitals$3,026$4,168 – $5,741: 40 hospitals$4,168median $919price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (495 of 549 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$234$32218
$322$44365
$443$61067
$610$84181
$841$1,15869
$1,158$1,59532
$1,595$2,19743
$2,197$3,02642
$3,026$4,16838
$4,168$5,74140

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $919.

Alaska: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $1,174 across 17 hospitalsWA$1,174Idaho: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $507 across 34 hospitalsIL$507Wisconsin: median $1,029 across 26 hospitalsWI$1,029Michigan: median $2,045 across 28 hospitalsMI$2,045New York: median $919 across 13 hospitalsNY$919Massachusetts: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: median $515 across 10 hospitalsOR$515Nevada: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: median $750 across 15 hospitalsIA$750Indiana: median $709 across 20 hospitalsIN$709Ohio: median $3,202 across 30 hospitalsOH$3,202Pennsylvania: median $1,293 across 28 hospitalsPA$1,293New Jersey: median $5,339 across 16 hospitalsNJ$5,339Connecticut: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $829 across 46 hospitalsCA$829Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $622 across 20 hospitalsCO$622Nebraska: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceKSArkansas: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: median $3,164 across 15 hospitalsNC$3,164South Carolina: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $461 across 12 hospitalsOK$461Louisiana: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $879 across 18 hospitalsGA$879Hawaii: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $399 across 37 hospitalsTX$399Florida: median $1,963 across 49 hospitalsFL$1,963
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $919. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
New Jersey NJ16$5,339+481%$4,350 – $6,390
Ohio OH30$3,202+248%$438 – $4,646
North Carolina NC15$3,164+244%$283 – $3,164
Michigan MI28$2,045+122%$571 – $2,436
Florida FL49$1,963+114%$1,013 – $4,503
Pennsylvania PA28$1,293+41%$57 – $2,324
Washington WA17$1,174+28%$440 – $1,786
Wisconsin WI26$1,029+12%$1,029 – $2,297
New York NY13$9190%$320 – $1,440
Georgia GA18$879−4%$879 – $1,127
California CA46$829−10%$559 – $1,574
Iowa IA15$750−18%$750 – $2,267
Indiana IN20$709−23%$554 – $812
Colorado CO20$622−32%$313 – $1,727
Oregon OR10$515−44%$515 – $660
Illinois IL34$507−45%$347 – $3,194
Oklahoma OK12$461−50%$461 – $461
Texas TX37$399−57%$392 – $948
Minnesota MN9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV1not 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 $919.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care487$879$428 – $2,753
Children’s19fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access41$1,029$627 – $3,632
Ownership
For-profit36$571$328 – $1,127
Government56$1,024$555 – $2,834
Non-profit455$919$461 – $2,982
System affiliation
Part of a system493$982$461 – $2,982
Independent56$651$416 – $1,967

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$1,583
Median cash price$919
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

448 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $951 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,121; most fall between $461 and $2,449.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 448 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
$347$490$951$2,133$4,213

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($347 vs $4,213).

Of the 479 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 448 gave a usable cash price; 12 carried a plausibility flag, 1 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 18 a list price only.

How complete is this

549 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (14%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 590 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted549
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here23
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 — excluded16
Hospitals that filed this code590

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 therapeutic procedures, hemic and lymphatic system family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as PR Access Thoracic Lymph Duct.

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, “Placement of a tube into the main chest lymph duct (CPT 38794) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-38794-placement-of-a-tube-into-the-main-chest-lymph-duct