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Procedure price report · Other diagnostic procedures, female organs

Magnified exam of the vulva with biopsy

CPT 56821the billing code this page is about

Examination of the vulva with a lighted magnifying instrument, including removal of one or more tissue samples for laboratory testing.

Hospitals typically charge $361 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 919 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $400. Most fall between $208 and $790 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
919
States
49
Filings dated
Jan 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 919 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
$148$245$361$655$1,394

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.4× what the cheapest tenth charges ($148 vs $1,394).

How the prices are spread

$97 – $139: 46 hospitals$97$139 – $199: 86 hospitals$199 – $284: 137 hospitals$199$284 – $406: 224 hospitals$406 – $581: 121 hospitals$406$581 – $830: 87 hospitals$830 – $1,187: 67 hospitals$830$1,187 – $1,697: 44 hospitals$1,697 – $2,426: 21 hospitals$1,697$2,426 – $3,468: 3 hospitals$2,426median $361price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (836 of 919 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$97$13946
$139$19986
$199$284137
$284$406224
$406$581121
$581$83087
$830$1,18767
$1,187$1,69744
$1,697$2,42621
$2,426$3,4683

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$311
Median cash price$361
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 $361.

Alaska: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: median $256 across 10 hospitalsVT$256New Hampshire: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $370 across 21 hospitalsWA$370Idaho: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: median $172 across 10 hospitalsMT$172North Dakota: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $408 across 34 hospitalsMN$408Illinois: median $367 across 30 hospitalsIL$367Wisconsin: median $420 across 46 hospitalsWI$420Michigan: median $336 across 54 hospitalsMI$336New York: median $360 across 54 hospitalsNY$360Massachusetts: median $395 across 24 hospitalsMA$395Oregon: median $306 across 27 hospitalsOR$306Nevada: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $391 across 31 hospitalsIA$391Indiana: median $179 across 24 hospitalsIN$179Ohio: median $354 across 40 hospitalsOH$354Pennsylvania: median $333 across 43 hospitalsPA$333New Jersey: median $3,690 across 36 hospitalsNJ$3,690Connecticut: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $905 across 64 hospitalsCA$905Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $548 across 15 hospitalsCO$548Nebraska: median $247 across 16 hospitalsNE$247Missouri: median $229 across 14 hospitalsMO$229Kentucky: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: median $350 across 18 hospitalsWV$350Virginia: median $397 across 15 hospitalsVA$397Maryland: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: median $4,459 across 12 hospitalsAZ$4,459New Mexico: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $356 across 13 hospitalsKS$356Arkansas: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $168 across 19 hospitalsTN$168North Carolina: median $344 across 24 hospitalsNC$344South Carolina: median $352 across 28 hospitalsSC$352Oklahoma: median $188 across 15 hospitalsOK$188Louisiana: median $283 across 21 hospitalsLA$283Mississippi: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $386 across 38 hospitalsTX$386Florida: median $663 across 24 hospitalsFL$663
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $361. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Arizona AZ12$4,459+1136%$374 – $4,459
New Jersey NJ36$3,690+922%$337 – $4,881
California CA64$905+151%$500 – $1,394
Florida FL24$663+84%$608 – $4,514
Colorado CO15$548+52%$262 – $851
Wisconsin WI46$420+17%$283 – $497
Minnesota MN34$408+13%$256 – $623
Virginia VA15$397+10%$103 – $535
Massachusetts MA24$395+10%$228 – $645
Iowa IA31$391+8%$215 – $394
Texas TX38$386+7%$265 – $424
Washington WA21$370+3%$306 – $457
Illinois IL30$367+2%$179 – $572
New York NY54$3600%$243 – $758
Kansas KS13$356−1%$253 – $2,318
Ohio OH40$354−2%$244 – $909
South Carolina SC28$352−2%$352 – $706
West Virginia WV18$350−3%$292 – $467
North Carolina NC24$344−5%$177 – $469
Michigan MI54$336−7%$97 – $428
Pennsylvania PA43$333−8%$86 – $472
Oregon OR27$306−15%$170 – $618
Louisiana LA21$283−21%$130 – $603
Vermont VT10$256−29%$95 – $400
Nebraska NE16$247−32%$193 – $310
Missouri MO14$229−37%$160 – $856
Oklahoma OK15$188−48%$188 – $879
Indiana IN24$179−50%$164 – $259
Montana MT10$172−52%$146 – $451
Tennessee TN19$168−53%$62 – $274
Georgia GA9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR2not 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 $361.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care711$381$235 – $905
Children’s10fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access197$292$179 – $474
Ownership
For-profit57$353$181 – $773
Government152$344$238 – $677
Non-profit709$376$203 – $851
System affiliation
Part of a system756$376$213 – $851
Independent163$330$200 – $677

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$620
Median cash price$361
Cash as a share of list, median hospital62%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 38%. 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

624 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $380 and the average of the middle 60% is $415; most fall between $225 and $773.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 624 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
$174$265$380$659$1,335

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.7× what the cheapest tenth charges ($174 vs $1,335).

Of the 665 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 624 gave a usable cash price; 20 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

919 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (23%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 994 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted919
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here44
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 — excluded29
Hospitals that filed this code994

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 diagnostic procedures, female organs family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Colposcopy Vulva W/Biopsy.

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, “Magnified exam of the vulva with biopsy (CPT 56821) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-56821-magnified-exam-of-the-vulva-with-biopsy