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Procedure price report · Exploratory laparotomy

Exploratory abdominal surgery, with or without biopsy

CPT 49000the billing code this page is about

Open surgery that opens the abdomen to look directly at the internal organs to find the cause of a problem, including taking tissue samples if needed.

Hospitals typically charge $1,854 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 777 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,096. Most fall between $1,070 and $4,233 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
777
States
50
Filings dated
Mar 2023 – 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 777 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
$785$1,162$1,854$3,599$6,631

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.4× what the cheapest tenth charges ($785 vs $6,631).

How the prices are spread

$353 – $499: 13 hospitals$353$499 – $706: 17 hospitals$706 – $1,000: 65 hospitals$706$1,000 – $1,415: 141 hospitals$1,415 – $2,003: 156 hospitals$1,415$2,003 – $2,835: 101 hospitals$2,835 – $4,013: 66 hospitals$2,835$4,013 – $5,680: 75 hospitals$5,680 – $8,039: 49 hospitals$5,680$8,039 – $11,378: 18 hospitals$8,039median $1,854price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (701 of 777 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$353$49913
$499$70617
$706$1,00065
$1,000$1,415141
$1,415$2,003156
$2,003$2,835101
$2,835$4,01366
$4,013$5,68075
$5,680$8,03949
$8,039$11,37818

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $1,854.

Alaska: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $1,104 across 14 hospitalsME$1,104Vermont: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $923 across 11 hospitalsNH$923Washington: median $1,850 across 22 hospitalsWA$1,850Idaho: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: median $1,138 across 10 hospitalsMT$1,138North Dakota: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $2,029 across 35 hospitalsMN$2,029Illinois: median $1,890 across 36 hospitalsIL$1,890Wisconsin: median $3,483 across 39 hospitalsWI$3,483Michigan: median $1,752 across 39 hospitalsMI$1,752New York: median $1,491 across 31 hospitalsNY$1,491Massachusetts: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: median $2,106 across 34 hospitalsOR$2,106Nevada: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $1,890 across 45 hospitalsIA$1,890Indiana: median $992 across 17 hospitalsIN$992Ohio: median $1,188 across 32 hospitalsOH$1,188Pennsylvania: median $1,839 across 28 hospitalsPA$1,839New Jersey: median $4,881 across 22 hospitalsNJ$4,881Connecticut: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $1,709 across 20 hospitalsCA$1,709Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $1,571 across 16 hospitalsCO$1,571Nebraska: median $1,501 across 10 hospitalsNE$1,501Missouri: median $1,542 across 24 hospitalsMO$1,542Kentucky: median $1,367 across 16 hospitalsKY$1,367West Virginia: median $1,065 across 18 hospitalsWV$1,065Virginia: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: median $1,580 across 11 hospitalsNM$1,580Kansas: median $1,261 across 23 hospitalsKS$1,261Arkansas: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: 7 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 $1,072 across 20 hospitalsOK$1,072Louisiana: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $2,688 across 23 hospitalsGA$2,688Hawaii: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $1,603 across 33 hospitalsTX$1,603Florida: median $1,478 across 18 hospitalsFL$1,478
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,854. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
New Jersey NJ22$4,881+163%$2,370 – $6,311
Wisconsin WI39$3,483+88%$2,093 – $5,911
Georgia GA23$2,688+45%$1,754 – $3,600
Oregon OR34$2,106+14%$1,414 – $3,230
Minnesota MN35$2,029+9%$1,070 – $4,205
Iowa IA45$1,890+2%$1,442 – $2,226
Illinois IL36$1,890+2%$992 – $4,495
Washington WA22$1,8500%$1,414 – $4,479
Pennsylvania PA28$1,839−1%$1,379 – $5,660
Michigan MI39$1,752−6%$997 – $1,939
California CA20$1,709−8%$937 – $2,794
Texas TX33$1,603−14%$1,329 – $4,084
New Mexico NM11$1,580−15%$970 – $7,040
Colorado CO16$1,571−15%$757 – $1,913
Missouri MO24$1,542−17%$1,159 – $11,966
Nebraska NE10$1,501−19%$1,138 – $1,699
New York NY31$1,491−20%$688 – $2,582
Florida FL18$1,478−20%$1,069 – $13,261
Kentucky KY16$1,367−26%$992 – $3,849
Kansas KS23$1,261−32%$713 – $1,643
Ohio OH32$1,188−36%$1,021 – $6,838
Montana MT10$1,138−39%$436 – $2,316
Maine ME14$1,104−40%$636 – $11,378
Oklahoma OK20$1,072−42%$1,072 – $4,865
West Virginia WV18$1,065−43%$851 – $2,515
Indiana IN17$992−47%$352 – $1,669
New Hampshire NH11$923−50%$790 – $1,743
Connecticut CT9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT1not 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 $1,854.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care492$1,871$1,045 – $4,865
Children’s14fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access269$1,801$1,109 – $3,483
Ownership
For-profit48$1,939$992 – $6,409
Government179$1,694$1,045 – $3,230
Non-profit548$1,890$1,072 – $4,527
System affiliation
Part of a system571$1,890$1,070 – $4,590
Independent206$1,643$1,125 – $3,417

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,621
Median cash price$1,854
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

491 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,742 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,888; most fall between $992 and $4,110.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 491 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
$593$1,072$1,742$3,483$6,904

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($593 vs $6,904).

Of the 558 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 491 gave a usable cash price; 35 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 32 a list price only.

How complete is this

777 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (20%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 903 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted777
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here68
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 — excluded57
Hospitals that filed this code903

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 Exploratory laparotomy family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Exploratory Laparotomy Celiotomy W/WO Biopsy Spx.

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, “Exploratory abdominal surgery, with or without biopsy (CPT 49000) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-49000-exploratory-abdominal-surgery-with-or-without-biopsy