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Procedure price report · Other diagnostic nervous system procedures

Needle biopsy of the brain guided by CT or MRI

CPT 61751the billing code this page is about

Removal of a small brain tissue sample through a burr hole in the skull, with the needle path planned and guided by CT or MRI imaging.

Hospitals typically charge $3,180 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 308 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $3,616. Most fall between $1,873 and $5,806 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
308
States
41
Filings dated
Jun 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 308 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
$946$2,094$3,180$5,538$10,409

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 11× what the cheapest tenth charges ($946 vs $10,409).

How the prices are spread

$769 – $1,053: 26 hospitals$769$1,053 – $1,443: 17 hospitals$1,443 – $1,976: 8 hospitals$1,443$1,976 – $2,707: 56 hospitals$2,707 – $3,707: 56 hospitals$2,707$3,707 – $5,078: 36 hospitals$5,078 – $6,955: 55 hospitals$5,078$6,955 – $9,526: 9 hospitals$9,526 – $13,048: 14 hospitals$9,526$13,048 – $17,872: 4 hospitals$13,048median $3,180price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (281 of 308 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$769$1,05326
$1,053$1,44317
$1,443$1,9768
$1,976$2,70756
$2,707$3,70756
$3,707$5,07836
$5,078$6,95555
$6,955$9,5269
$9,526$13,04814
$13,048$17,8724

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $3,180.

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: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: 2 hospitals 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: median $9,644 across 16 hospitalsMN$9,644Illinois: median $2,029 across 12 hospitalsIL$2,029Wisconsin: median $6,474 across 26 hospitalsWI$6,474Michigan: median $5,538 across 28 hospitalsMI$5,538New York: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNYMassachusetts: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: median $2,592 across 10 hospitalsOR$2,592Nevada: 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 $3,243 across 17 hospitalsIA$3,243Indiana: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureINOhio: median $4,885 across 14 hospitalsOH$4,885Pennsylvania: median $1,026 across 15 hospitalsPA$1,026New Jersey: median $4,881 across 14 hospitalsNJ$4,881Connecticut: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $2,828 across 29 hospitalsCA$2,828Utah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: median $1,955 across 10 hospitalsNE$1,955Missouri: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNMKansas: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNCSouth Carolina: median $2,094 across 11 hospitalsSC$2,094Oklahoma: median $2,287 across 15 hospitalsOK$2,287Louisiana: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceALGeorgia: 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: median $18,631 across 12 hospitalsFL$18,631
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $3,180. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Florida FL12$18,631+486%$4,885 – $18,631
Minnesota MN16$9,644+203%$2,920 – $11,316
Wisconsin WI26$6,474+104%$5,806 – $17,872
Michigan MI28$5,538+74%$2,132 – $5,796
Ohio OH14$4,885+54%$997 – $5,284
New Jersey NJ14$4,881+54%$3,986 – $5,855
Iowa IA17$3,243+2%$2,194 – $3,243
California CA29$2,828−11%$2,828 – $3,583
Oregon OR10$2,592−18%$2,592 – $4,463
Oklahoma OK15$2,287−28%$946 – $2,287
South Carolina SC11$2,094−34%$2,094 – $2,094
Illinois IL12$2,029−36%$1,084 – $8,032
Nebraska NE10$1,955−38%$769 – $2,798
Pennsylvania PA15$1,026−68%$868 – $3,858
Arizona AZ9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New York NY7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV4not 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
Arkansas AR2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Indiana IN2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN2not 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
Kentucky KY1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI1not 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 $3,180.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care254$2,828$1,441 – $5,538
Children’s8fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access45$5,806$2,059 – $9,644
Ownership
For-profit16fewer than 20 hospitals
Government22$3,648$2,243 – $11,191
Non-profit269$3,180$1,955 – $5,806
System affiliation
Part of a system265$3,243$1,873 – $5,806
Independent43$2,868$1,766 – $5,156

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$4,532
Median cash price$3,180
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

207 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $2,828 and the average of the middle 60% is $3,022; most fall between $1,478 and $5,796.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 207 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
$946$1,955$2,828$4,613$6,341

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.7× what the cheapest tenth charges ($946 vs $6,341).

Of the 227 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 207 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 6 a list price only.

How complete is this

308 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (8%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 346 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted308
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here24
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded14
Hospitals that filed this code346

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 23, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Related procedures

Part of the Other diagnostic nervous system procedures family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Strtctc Bx Aspir/Exc Burr Icra Lesion W/CT&I/MR.

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, “Needle biopsy of the brain guided by CT or MRI (CPT 61751) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-61751-needle-biopsy-of-the-brain-guided-by-ct-or-mri