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Procedure price report · Other bowel diagnostic procedures

Opening the small bowel to explore, biopsy or remove object

CPT 44020the billing code this page is about

Open surgery that cuts into the small intestine beyond the duodenum to inspect it, take tissue samples, or remove a foreign object.

Hospitals typically charge $2,155 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 377 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,212. Most fall between $1,370 and $4,180 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
377
States
48
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 377 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
$954$1,458$2,155$3,104$5,359

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 5.6× what the cheapest tenth charges ($954 vs $5,359).

How the prices are spread

$631 – $791: 15 hospitals$631$791 – $992: 12 hospitals$992 – $1,244: 26 hospitals$992$1,244 – $1,559: 40 hospitals$1,559 – $1,954: 54 hospitals$1,559$1,954 – $2,450: 71 hospitals$2,450 – $3,072: 46 hospitals$2,450$3,072 – $3,851: 16 hospitals$3,851 – $4,828: 34 hospitals$3,851$4,828 – $6,053: 29 hospitals$4,828median $2,155price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (343 of 377 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$631$79115
$791$99212
$992$1,24426
$1,244$1,55940
$1,559$1,95454
$1,954$2,45071
$2,450$3,07246
$3,072$3,85116
$3,851$4,82834
$4,828$6,05329

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $2,155.

Alaska: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $2,968 across 20 hospitalsMN$2,968Illinois: median $2,261 across 16 hospitalsIL$2,261Wisconsin: median $4,308 across 27 hospitalsWI$4,308Michigan: median $2,399 across 29 hospitalsMI$2,399New York: median $1,706 across 21 hospitalsNY$1,706Massachusetts: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: median $2,114 across 18 hospitalsOR$2,114Nevada: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $2,389 across 24 hospitalsIA$2,389Indiana: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureINOhio: median $1,513 across 12 hospitalsOH$1,513Pennsylvania: median $741 across 18 hospitalsPA$741New Jersey: median $5,110 across 13 hospitalsNJ$5,110Connecticut: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $1,363 across 10 hospitalsCA$1,363Utah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $1,601 across 11 hospitalsOK$1,601Louisiana: 2 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: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTXFlorida: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $2,155. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
New Jersey NJ13$5,110+137%$3,986 – $5,855
Wisconsin WI27$4,308+100%$4,308 – $6,053
Minnesota MN20$2,968+38%$2,023 – $5,359
Michigan MI29$2,399+11%$1,378 – $2,427
Iowa IA24$2,389+11%$1,964 – $2,534
Illinois IL16$2,261+5%$772 – $2,524
Oregon OR18$2,114−2%$1,789 – $2,658
New York NY21$1,706−21%$1,168 – $2,534
Oklahoma OK11$1,601−26%$1,601 – $1,601
Ohio OH12$1,513−30%$1,487 – $3,942
California CA10$1,363−37%$656 – $2,683
Pennsylvania PA18$741−66%$604 – $2,679
Missouri MO9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Texas TX8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Indiana IN5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Georgia GA1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC1not 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 $2,155.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care240$2,054$1,257 – $3,786
Children’s9fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access127$2,178$1,370 – $4,308
Ownership
For-profit23$1,678$772 – $3,452
Government69$2,023$1,180 – $2,840
Non-profit284$2,389$1,378 – $4,308
System affiliation
Part of a system266$2,389$1,378 – $4,308
Independent111$2,043$1,341 – $3,231

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,812
Median cash price$2,155
Cash as a share of list, median hospital70%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 30%. 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

228 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,890 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,015; most fall between $1,309 and $3,077.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 228 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
$988$1,413$1,890$2,749$4,308

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 4.4× what the cheapest tenth charges ($988 vs $4,308).

Of the 262 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 228 gave a usable cash price; 19 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 15 a list price only.

How complete is this

377 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (10%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 451 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted377
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here43
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded30
Hospitals that filed this code451

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 bowel diagnostic procedures family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Enterotomy Sm Int Oth/Thn Duo Expl Bx/FB Rmvl.

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, “Opening the small bowel to explore, biopsy or remove object (CPT 44020) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-44020-opening-the-small-bowel-to-explore-biopsy-or-remove-object