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Procedure price report · Other OR gastrointestinal therapeutic procedures

Bile duct stent placed through an existing drain tract

CPT 47538the billing code this page is about

A stent is placed to hold a bile duct open, using a tube or tract already in place through the skin; includes the imaging guidance used.

Hospitals typically charge $7,039 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,432 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $7,240. Most fall between $3,893 and $12,110 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,432
States
50
Filings dated
Feb 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 1,432 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
$2,576$4,355$7,039$11,207$16,869

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.5× what the cheapest tenth charges ($2,576 vs $16,869).

How the prices are spread

$1,830 – $2,325: 53 hospitals$1,830$2,325 – $2,952: 58 hospitals$2,952 – $3,750: 74 hospitals$2,952$3,750 – $4,763: 158 hospitals$4,763 – $6,049: 175 hospitals$4,763$6,049 – $7,683: 212 hospitals$7,683 – $9,758: 204 hospitals$7,683$9,758 – $12,394: 154 hospitals$12,394 – $15,741: 87 hospitals$12,394$15,741 – $19,993: 118 hospitals$15,741median $7,039price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,293 of 1,432 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$1,830$2,32553
$2,325$2,95258
$2,952$3,75074
$3,750$4,763158
$4,763$6,049175
$6,049$7,683212
$7,683$9,758204
$9,758$12,394154
$12,394$15,74187
$15,741$19,993118

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$6,176
Median cash price$7,039
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.14×

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 $7,039.

Alaska: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $4,263 across 36 hospitalsWA$4,263Idaho: median $9,820 across 13 hospitalsID$9,820Montana: median $6,554 across 11 hospitalsMT$6,554North Dakota: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $5,939 across 23 hospitalsMN$5,939Illinois: median $9,683 across 60 hospitalsIL$9,683Wisconsin: median $6,520 across 47 hospitalsWI$6,520Michigan: median $8,313 across 57 hospitalsMI$8,313New York: median $6,904 across 44 hospitalsNY$6,904Massachusetts: median $7,300 across 29 hospitalsMA$7,300Oregon: median $6,552 across 28 hospitalsOR$6,552Nevada: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $9,283 across 18 hospitalsIA$9,283Indiana: median $4,098 across 37 hospitalsIN$4,098Ohio: median $9,050 across 86 hospitalsOH$9,050Pennsylvania: median $9,646 across 73 hospitalsPA$9,646New Jersey: median $6,839 across 53 hospitalsNJ$6,839Connecticut: median $7,662 across 14 hospitalsCT$7,662Rhode Island: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $10,434 across 131 hospitalsCA$10,434Utah: median $7,836 across 23 hospitalsUT$7,836Colorado: median $6,970 across 29 hospitalsCO$6,970Nebraska: median $4,847 across 15 hospitalsNE$4,847Missouri: median $6,984 across 30 hospitalsMO$6,984Kentucky: median $7,100 across 11 hospitalsKY$7,100West Virginia: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $7,237 across 35 hospitalsVA$7,237Maryland: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $2,445 across 19 hospitalsAZ$2,445New Mexico: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: median $3,380 across 11 hospitalsAR$3,380Tennessee: median $2,867 across 37 hospitalsTN$2,867North Carolina: median $5,052 across 35 hospitalsNC$5,052South Carolina: median $3,893 across 29 hospitalsSC$3,893Oklahoma: median $4,566 across 23 hospitalsOK$4,566Louisiana: median $5,574 across 24 hospitalsLA$5,574Mississippi: median $4,071 across 19 hospitalsMS$4,071Alabama: median $7,101 across 14 hospitalsAL$7,101Georgia: median $4,785 across 54 hospitalsGA$4,785Hawaii: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $5,663 across 116 hospitalsTX$5,663Florida: median $8,152 across 77 hospitalsFL$8,152
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $7,039. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA131$10,434+48%$6,243 – $16,576
Idaho ID13$9,820+40%$4,000 – $15,131
Illinois IL60$9,683+38%$4,562 – $11,519
Pennsylvania PA73$9,646+37%$6,841 – $20,091
Iowa IA18$9,283+32%$5,739 – $10,412
Ohio OH86$9,050+29%$4,355 – $17,445
Michigan MI57$8,313+18%$3,204 – $12,240
Florida FL77$8,152+16%$5,006 – $17,905
Utah UT23$7,836+11%$7,836 – $9,219
Connecticut CT14$7,662+9%$6,546 – $8,812
Massachusetts MA29$7,300+4%$2,188 – $12,394
Virginia VA35$7,237+3%$2,596 – $7,996
Alabama AL14$7,101+1%$5,248 – $14,419
Kentucky KY11$7,100+1%$4,285 – $23,427
Missouri MO30$6,984−1%$4,595 – $11,780
Colorado CO29$6,970−1%$5,326 – $8,812
New York NY44$6,904−2%$6,176 – $14,223
New Jersey NJ53$6,839−3%$4,627 – $7,822
Montana MT11$6,554−7%$6,554 – $8,052
Oregon OR28$6,552−7%$682 – $15,977
Wisconsin WI47$6,520−7%$4,205 – $11,281
Minnesota MN23$5,939−16%$3,843 – $6,389
Texas TX116$5,663−20%$4,361 – $9,185
Louisiana LA24$5,574−21%$2,922 – $10,648
North Carolina NC35$5,052−28%$2,136 – $6,285
Nebraska NE15$4,847−31%$2,909 – $6,885
Georgia GA54$4,785−32%$4,248 – $15,516
Oklahoma OK23$4,566−35%$4,515 – $7,039
Washington WA36$4,263−39%$2,551 – $9,315
Indiana IN37$4,098−42%$2,940 – $8,616
Mississippi MS19$4,071−42%$2,650 – $5,396
South Carolina SC29$3,893−45%$3,893 – $7,252
Arkansas AR11$3,380−52%$2,576 – $3,865
Tennessee TN37$2,867−59%$1,857 – $5,618
Arizona AZ19$2,445−65%$2,023 – $5,448
Hawaii HI9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT1not 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 $7,039.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,291$7,002$3,893 – $11,895
Children’s31$7,101$2,633 – $14,375
Critical access102$7,836$4,248 – $12,240
Ownership
For-profit130$7,836$4,488 – $15,831
Government173$5,564$3,689 – $11,207
Non-profit1,121$7,176$3,893 – $11,895
System affiliation
Part of a system1,274$7,101$4,023 – $12,240
Independent158$6,484$3,410 – $11,478

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$13,170
Median cash price$7,039
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

1,130 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $7,505 and the average of the middle 60% is $7,635; most fall between $3,893 and $13,476.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,130 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
$2,674$4,363$7,505$11,401$17,071

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.4× what the cheapest tenth charges ($2,674 vs $17,071).

Of the 1,216 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,130 gave a usable cash price; 44 carried a plausibility flag, 1 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 41 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,432 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (36%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,541 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,432
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here60
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 — excluded48
Hospitals that filed this code1,541

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 OR gastrointestinal therapeutic procedures family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Plmt Bile Duct Stent Prq Existing Access.

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, “Bile duct stent placed through an existing drain tract (CPT 47538) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-47538-bile-duct-stent-placed-through-an-existing-drain-tract