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Procedure price report · Indwelling catheter

Insertion of a temporary bladder catheter

CPT 51701the billing code this page is about

Passing a catheter into the bladder and removing it right away, such as to drain urine or measure what is left after urinating; no catheter is left in place.

Hospitals typically charge $158 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,953 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $166. Most fall between $80 and $301 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,953
States
50
Filings dated
Aug 2022 – 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 2,953 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
$50$92$158$255$425

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.5× what the cheapest tenth charges ($50 vs $425).

How the prices are spread

$38 – $51: 155 hospitals$38$51 – $68: 174 hospitals$68 – $91: 248 hospitals$68$91 – $121: 289 hospitals$121 – $161: 504 hospitals$121$161 – $215: 473 hospitals$215 – $287: 350 hospitals$215$287 – $383: 232 hospitals$383 – $511: 153 hospitals$383$511 – $681: 88 hospitals$511median $158price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,666 of 2,953 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$38$51155
$51$68174
$68$91248
$91$121289
$121$161504
$161$215473
$215$287350
$287$383232
$383$511153
$511$68188

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$136
Median cash price$158
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.16×

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 $158.

Alaska: median $218 across 17 hospitalsAK$218Maine: median $104 across 21 hospitalsME$104Vermont: median $130 across 11 hospitalsVT$130New Hampshire: median $81 across 19 hospitalsNH$81Washington: median $181 across 77 hospitalsWA$181Idaho: median $162 across 24 hospitalsID$162Montana: median $120 across 34 hospitalsMT$120North Dakota: median $159 across 27 hospitalsND$159Minnesota: median $143 across 99 hospitalsMN$143Illinois: median $199 across 124 hospitalsIL$199Wisconsin: median $121 across 105 hospitalsWI$121Michigan: median $154 across 85 hospitalsMI$154New York: median $157 across 100 hospitalsNY$157Massachusetts: median $243 across 46 hospitalsMA$243Oregon: median $105 across 52 hospitalsOR$105Nevada: median $149 across 20 hospitalsNV$149Wyoming: median $126 across 15 hospitalsWY$126South Dakota: median $158 across 40 hospitalsSD$158Iowa: median $124 across 88 hospitalsIA$124Indiana: median $161 across 80 hospitalsIN$161Ohio: median $237 across 129 hospitalsOH$237Pennsylvania: median $200 across 113 hospitalsPA$200New Jersey: median $172 across 55 hospitalsNJ$172Connecticut: median $145 across 18 hospitalsCT$145Rhode Island: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $255 across 187 hospitalsCA$255Utah: median $396 across 30 hospitalsUT$396Colorado: median $152 across 64 hospitalsCO$152Nebraska: median $118 across 73 hospitalsNE$118Missouri: median $134 across 69 hospitalsMO$134Kentucky: median $177 across 49 hospitalsKY$177West Virginia: median $128 across 38 hospitalsWV$128Virginia: median $134 across 60 hospitalsVA$134Maryland: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $158 across 42 hospitalsAZ$158New Mexico: median $179 across 27 hospitalsNM$179Kansas: median $107 across 82 hospitalsKS$107Arkansas: median $141 across 38 hospitalsAR$141Tennessee: median $84 across 58 hospitalsTN$84North Carolina: median $171 across 75 hospitalsNC$171South Carolina: median $175 across 45 hospitalsSC$175Oklahoma: median $129 across 66 hospitalsOK$129Louisiana: median $93 across 52 hospitalsLA$93Mississippi: median $101 across 46 hospitalsMS$101Alabama: median $133 across 34 hospitalsAL$133Georgia: median $310 across 83 hospitalsGA$310Hawaii: median $207 across 20 hospitalsHI$207Texas: median $196 across 184 hospitalsTX$196Florida: median $288 across 109 hospitalsFL$288
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $158. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Utah UT30$396+151%$169 – $466
Georgia GA83$310+96%$102 – $546
Florida FL109$288+82%$61 – $448
California CA187$255+62%$148 – $536
Massachusetts MA46$243+54%$130 – $338
Ohio OH129$237+50%$121 – $385
Alaska AK17$218+38%$131 – $396
Hawaii HI20$207+31%$114 – $245
Pennsylvania PA113$200+27%$76 – $544
Illinois IL124$199+26%$91 – $302
Texas TX184$196+24%$69 – $285
Washington WA77$181+14%$99 – $231
New Mexico NM27$179+13%$102 – $333
Kentucky KY49$177+12%$65 – $262
South Carolina SC45$175+11%$127 – $226
New Jersey NJ55$172+9%$143 – $3,786
North Carolina NC75$171+8%$89 – $269
Idaho ID24$162+2%$73 – $360
Indiana IN80$161+2%$92 – $336
North Dakota ND27$159+1%$86 – $231
South Dakota SD40$1580%$122 – $217
Arizona AZ42$1580%$45 – $780
New York NY100$1570%$75 – $298
Michigan MI85$154−2%$43 – $205
Colorado CO64$152−4%$84 – $271
Nevada NV20$149−5%$105 – $243
Connecticut CT18$145−8%$135 – $203
Minnesota MN99$143−10%$76 – $192
Arkansas AR38$141−10%$63 – $203
Missouri MO69$134−15%$82 – $247
Virginia VA60$134−15%$83 – $171
Alabama AL34$133−16%$97 – $241
Vermont VT11$130−18%$94 – $265
Oklahoma OK66$129−18%$83 – $242
West Virginia WV38$128−19%$83 – $260
Wyoming WY15$126−20%$54 – $158
Iowa IA88$124−22%$75 – $214
Wisconsin WI105$121−23%$74 – $205
Montana MT34$120−24%$58 – $159
Nebraska NE73$118−25%$72 – $191
Kansas KS82$107−32%$58 – $164
Oregon OR52$105−34%$69 – $194
Maine ME21$104−34%$48 – $176
Mississippi MS46$101−36%$59 – $179
Louisiana LA52$93−41%$44 – $177
Tennessee TN58$84−47%$35 – $186
New Hampshire NH19$81−49%$32 – $112
Maryland MD9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE6not 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 $158.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,975$170$87 – $349
Children’s67$229$88 – $326
Critical access902$129$65 – $208
Ownership
For-profit275$200$118 – $630
Government601$132$63 – $227
Non-profit2,068$161$82 – $303
System affiliation
Part of a system2,368$164$84 – $320
Independent585$131$67 – $227

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$255
Median cash price$158
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

2,210 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $170 and the average of the middle 60% is $178; most fall between $84 and $319.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,210 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
$51$100$170$269$431

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.5× what the cheapest tenth charges ($51 vs $431).

Of the 2,357 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,210 gave a usable cash price; 51 carried a plausibility flag, 1 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 95 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,953 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (75%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,153 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,953
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here89
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded4
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded106
Hospitals that filed this code3,153

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 Indwelling catheter family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Insj Non-Ndwellg Bladder Catheter.

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, “Insertion of a temporary bladder catheter (CPT 51701) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-51701-insertion-of-a-temporary-bladder-catheter