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Procedure price report · Other OR gastrointestinal therapeutic procedures

Open drainage of an abscess inside the abdomen

CPT 49020the billing code this page is about

Open surgery to drain a pocket of pus in the abdominal cavity, including infection around the appendix, and may involve more than one surgical visit.

Hospitals typically charge $2,918 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 669 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $3,013. Most fall between $1,601 and $4,857 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
669
States
49
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 669 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
$841$1,745$2,918$4,500$6,901

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.2× what the cheapest tenth charges ($841 vs $6,901).

How the prices are spread

$554 – $725: 38 hospitals$554$725 – $949: 10 hospitals$949 – $1,243: 15 hospitals$949$1,243 – $1,628: 60 hospitals$1,628 – $2,131: 70 hospitals$1,628$2,131 – $2,791: 103 hospitals$2,791 – $3,655: 82 hospitals$2,791$3,655 – $4,786: 129 hospitals$4,786 – $6,266: 61 hospitals$4,786$6,266 – $8,206: 47 hospitals$6,266median $2,918price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (615 of 669 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$554$72538
$725$94910
$949$1,24315
$1,243$1,62860
$1,628$2,13170
$2,131$2,791103
$2,791$3,65582
$3,655$4,786129
$4,786$6,26661
$6,266$8,20647

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $2,918.

Alaska: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $2,639 across 13 hospitalsME$2,639Vermont: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $2,918 across 16 hospitalsWA$2,918Idaho: median $10,614 across 11 hospitalsID$10,614Montana: median $2,975 across 10 hospitalsMT$2,975North Dakota: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $5,080 across 22 hospitalsMN$5,080Illinois: median $3,214 across 33 hospitalsIL$3,214Wisconsin: median $8,206 across 37 hospitalsWI$8,206Michigan: median $2,234 across 34 hospitalsMI$2,234New York: median $2,187 across 28 hospitalsNY$2,187Massachusetts: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: median $4,102 across 21 hospitalsOR$4,102Nevada: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 7 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 $3,915 across 33 hospitalsIA$3,915Indiana: median $1,521 across 13 hospitalsIN$1,521Ohio: median $2,244 across 17 hospitalsOH$2,244Pennsylvania: median $3,614 across 12 hospitalsPA$3,614New Jersey: median $4,627 across 19 hospitalsNJ$4,627Connecticut: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $4,138 across 37 hospitalsCA$4,138Utah: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: median $2,759 across 16 hospitalsNE$2,759Missouri: median $2,271 across 10 hospitalsMO$2,271Kentucky: median $1,642 across 12 hospitalsKY$1,642West Virginia: median $1,792 across 15 hospitalsWV$1,792Virginia: median $2,520 across 20 hospitalsVA$2,520Maryland: 2 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: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $2,150 across 19 hospitalsKS$2,150Arkansas: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: median $5,605 across 12 hospitalsSC$5,605Oklahoma: median $3,342 across 11 hospitalsOK$3,342Louisiana: median $1,699 across 15 hospitalsLA$1,699Mississippi: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $689 across 17 hospitalsGA$689Hawaii: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $1,614 across 30 hospitalsTX$1,614Florida: median $4,615 across 15 hospitalsFL$4,615
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $2,918. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Idaho ID11$10,614+264%$1,964 – $10,792
Wisconsin WI37$8,206+181%$4,413 – $8,206
South Carolina SC12$5,605+92%$3,201 – $5,605
Minnesota MN22$5,080+74%$3,127 – $7,837
New Jersey NJ19$4,627+59%$311 – $5,855
Florida FL15$4,615+58%$2,262 – $6,758
California CA37$4,138+42%$1,412 – $4,138
Oregon OR21$4,102+41%$2,918 – $4,352
Iowa IA33$3,915+34%$2,252 – $4,487
Pennsylvania PA12$3,614+24%$1,705 – $5,012
Oklahoma OK11$3,342+15%$3,342 – $3,342
Illinois IL33$3,214+10%$1,521 – $5,103
Montana MT10$2,975+2%$1,782 – $4,195
Washington WA16$2,9180%$2,324 – $5,178
Nebraska NE16$2,759−5%$1,287 – $3,840
Maine ME13$2,639−10%$1,181 – $3,523
Virginia VA20$2,520−14%$2,481 – $3,451
Missouri MO10$2,271−22%$1,073 – $2,385
Ohio OH17$2,244−23%$1,618 – $4,521
Michigan MI34$2,234−23%$2,103 – $3,049
New York NY28$2,187−25%$554 – $4,784
Kansas KS19$2,150−26%$529 – $3,015
West Virginia WV15$1,792−39%$1,728 – $3,800
Louisiana LA15$1,699−42%$1,099 – $2,763
Kentucky KY12$1,642−44%$1,587 – $3,767
Texas TX30$1,614−45%$1,601 – $4,969
Indiana IN13$1,521−48%$1,382 – $3,335
Georgia GA17$689−76%$689 – $689
Colorado CO9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN2not 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 $2,918.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care438$2,673$1,521 – $4,761
Children’s16fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access213$3,214$1,906 – $5,103
Ownership
For-profit64$2,329$725 – $5,443
Government128$2,934$1,615 – $4,583
Non-profit475$3,005$1,636 – $4,832
System affiliation
Part of a system497$2,900$1,601 – $4,857
Independent172$3,006$1,705 – $4,832

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$4,345
Median cash price$2,918
Cash as a share of list, median hospital65%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 35%. 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

429 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $2,763 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,853; most fall between $1,580 and $4,500.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 429 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
$797$1,615$2,763$4,138$6,576

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.3× what the cheapest tenth charges ($797 vs $6,576).

Of the 485 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 429 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 21 a list price only.

How complete is this

669 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (17%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 784 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted669
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here66
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded1
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded47
Hospitals that filed this code784

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 OR gastrointestinal therapeutic procedures family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Drainage Periton Abscess/Local Peritonitis Open.

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, “Open drainage of an abscess inside the abdomen (CPT 49020) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-49020-open-drainage-of-an-abscess-inside-the-abdomen