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Procedure price report · Incision and excision of CNS

Brain surgery to treat a penetrating head wound

CPT 61571the billing code this page is about

Opening or removal of skull bone to clean a wound that has entered the brain, remove damaged tissue and foreign material, and repair the brain covering.

Hospitals typically charge $4,670 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 145 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $4,904. Most fall between $3,022 and $7,389 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
145
States
35
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 145 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
$2,057$3,277$4,670$6,475$8,343

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 4.1× what the cheapest tenth charges ($2,057 vs $8,343).

How the prices are spread

$1,791 – $2,089: 9 hospitals$1,791$2,089 – $2,437: 3 hospitals$2,437 – $2,842: 6 hospitals$2,437$2,842 – $3,315: 20 hospitals$3,315 – $3,866: 7 hospitals$3,315$3,866 – $4,509: 11 hospitals$4,509 – $5,259: 20 hospitals$4,509$5,259 – $6,133: 15 hospitals$6,133 – $7,153: 15 hospitals$6,133$7,153 – $8,343: 27 hospitals$7,153median $4,670price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (133 of 145 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$1,791$2,0899
$2,089$2,4373
$2,437$2,8426
$2,842$3,31520
$3,315$3,8667
$3,866$4,50911
$4,509$5,25920
$5,259$6,13315
$6,133$7,15315
$7,153$8,34327

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $4,670.

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: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureILWisconsin: median $8,343 across 12 hospitalsWI$8,343Michigan: median $4,549 across 15 hospitalsMI$4,549New York: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNYMassachusetts: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMAOregon: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 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 $4,670 across 14 hospitalsIA$4,670Indiana: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceINOhio: median $7,389 across 10 hospitalsOH$7,389Pennsylvania: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figurePANew Jersey: median $5,339 across 13 hospitalsNJ$5,339Connecticut: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: 5 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: 2 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: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceVAMaryland: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNMKansas: 1 hospital 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 $3,277 across 10 hospitalsOK$3,277Louisiana: 1 hospital 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: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceGAHawaii: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceHITexas: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTXFlorida: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $4,670. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Wisconsin WI12$8,343+79%$8,343 – $8,343
Ohio OH10$7,389+58%$3,231 – $7,389
New Jersey NJ13$5,339+14%$4,350 – $6,311
Iowa IA14$4,6700%$4,670 – $4,670
Michigan MI15$4,549−3%$3,022 – $7,402
Oklahoma OK10$3,277−30%$3,277 – $3,277
Illinois IL9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Pennsylvania PA7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New York NY6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
California CA5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Texas TX3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV1not 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 $4,670.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care117$4,670$3,022 – $6,519
Children’s7fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access21$6,370$3,930 – $8,343
Ownership
For-profit12fewer than 20 hospitals
Government18fewer than 20 hospitals
Non-profit115$4,670$3,022 – $7,389
System affiliation
Part of a system115$4,670$3,022 – $7,389
Independent30$4,151$2,535 – $6,280

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$5,936
Median cash price$4,670
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

102 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $4,670 and the average of the middle 60% is $4,762; most fall between $2,805 and $7,402.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 102 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
$2,057$3,277$4,670$6,519$8,343

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 4.1× what the cheapest tenth charges ($2,057 vs $8,343).

Of the 119 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 102 gave a usable cash price; 16 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 1 a list price only.

How complete is this

145 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (4%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 168 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted145
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here21
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 — excluded1
Hospitals that filed this code168

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 Craniectomy/Craniotomy Tx Penetratng Wound Brain.

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, “Brain surgery to treat a penetrating head wound (CPT 61571) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-61571-brain-surgery-to-treat-a-penetrating-head-wound