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Procedure price report · Incision and excision of CNS

Skull opening to relieve pressure on the brain

CPT 61322the billing code this page is about

A section of skull is opened or removed, sometimes with enlargement of the brain covering, to relieve dangerously high pressure inside the head; no clot within the brain tissue is removed.

Hospitals typically charge $5,585 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 229 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $6,282. Most fall between $3,588 and $10,139 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
229
States
40
Filings dated
Jun 2024 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 23, 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 229 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
$1,883$4,099$5,585$8,908$11,399

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.1× what the cheapest tenth charges ($1,883 vs $11,399).

How the prices are spread

$1,551 – $1,979: 13 hospitals$1,551$1,979 – $2,525: 8 hospitals$2,525 – $3,221: 5 hospitals$2,525$3,221 – $4,110: 21 hospitals$4,110 – $5,245: 39 hospitals$4,110$5,245 – $6,692: 48 hospitals$6,692 – $8,538: 21 hospitals$6,692$8,538 – $10,894: 28 hospitals$10,894 – $13,900: 21 hospitals$10,894$13,900 – $17,735: 3 hospitals$13,900median $5,585price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (207 of 229 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$1,551$1,97913
$1,979$2,5258
$2,525$3,2215
$3,221$4,11021
$4,110$5,24539
$5,245$6,69248
$6,692$8,53821
$8,538$10,89428
$10,894$13,90021
$13,900$17,7353

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $5,585.

Alaska: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMEVermont: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $11,399 across 14 hospitalsMN$11,399Illinois: median $1,883 across 10 hospitalsIL$1,883Wisconsin: median $10,996 across 26 hospitalsWI$10,996Michigan: median $6,247 across 26 hospitalsMI$6,247New York: median $5,087 across 11 hospitalsNY$5,087Massachusetts: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMAOregon: median $4,421 across 10 hospitalsOR$4,421Nevada: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: median $5,585 across 16 hospitalsIA$5,585Indiana: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureINOhio: median $8,842 across 11 hospitalsOH$8,842Pennsylvania: median $1,753 across 15 hospitalsPA$1,753New Jersey: median $5,110 across 12 hospitalsNJ$5,110Connecticut: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCAUtah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNCSouth Carolina: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSCOklahoma: median $4,974 across 10 hospitalsOK$4,974Louisiana: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceHITexas: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTXFlorida: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $5,585. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Minnesota MN14$11,399+104%$6,334 – $11,399
Wisconsin WI26$10,996+97%$10,139 – $19,304
Ohio OH11$8,842+58%$3,836 – $8,908
Michigan MI26$6,247+12%$3,588 – $6,247
Iowa IA16$5,5850%$5,585 – $7,942
New Jersey NJ12$5,110−9%$4,350 – $5,855
New York NY11$5,087−9%$3,030 – $7,490
Oklahoma OK10$4,974−11%$4,974 – $4,974
Oregon OR10$4,421−21%$4,421 – $7,606
Illinois IL10$1,883−66%$1,883 – $4,895
Pennsylvania PA15$1,753−69%$1,483 – $5,926
California CA6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Georgia GA5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Texas TX3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Indiana IN1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA1not 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 $5,585.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care179$5,490$3,588 – $8,865
Children’s9fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access40$10,139$4,135 – $11,399
Ownership
For-profit14fewer than 20 hospitals
Government23$5,490$4,069 – $7,467
Non-profit191$5,627$3,766 – $10,139
System affiliation
Part of a system192$5,585$3,786 – $10,139
Independent37$5,056$3,360 – $7,490

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$7,198
Median cash price$5,585
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

140 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $5,443 and the average of the middle 60% is $5,369; most fall between $3,292 and $8,865.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 140 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
$2,335$3,881$5,443$7,264$10,139

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 4.3× what the cheapest tenth charges ($2,335 vs $10,139).

Of the 164 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 140 gave a usable cash price; 14 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 10 a list price only.

How complete is this

229 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (6%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 259 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted229
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here23
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 — excluded6
Hospitals that filed this code259

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 23, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 23, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Related procedures

Part of the Incision and excision of CNS family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Crnec/Crnot Dcmprv W/WO Duraplasty W/O Lobectomy.

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, “Skull opening to relieve pressure on the brain (CPT 61322) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-61322-skull-opening-to-relieve-pressure-on-the-brain