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Procedure price report · Other therapeutic ear procedures

Drainage of outer ear abscess or blood collection

CPT 69000the billing code this page is about

Simple opening and draining of a pocket of pus or collected blood in the outer ear.

Hospitals typically charge $547 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,241 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $570. Most fall between $237 and $1,010 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,241
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 2,241 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
$159$286$547$896$1,734

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 11× what the cheapest tenth charges ($159 vs $1,734).

How the prices are spread

$113 – $152: 93 hospitals$113$152 – $204: 128 hospitals$204 – $273: 196 hospitals$204$273 – $366: 216 hospitals$366 – $490: 266 hospitals$366$490 – $657: 299 hospitals$657 – $881: 349 hospitals$657$881 – $1,181: 203 hospitals$1,181 – $1,582: 125 hospitals$1,181$1,582 – $2,121: 142 hospitals$1,582median $547price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,017 of 2,241 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$113$15293
$152$204128
$204$273196
$273$366216
$366$490266
$490$657299
$657$881349
$881$1,181203
$1,181$1,582125
$1,582$2,121142

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$723
Median cash price$547
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.76×

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 $547.

Alaska: median $486 across 16 hospitalsAK$486Maine: median $311 across 21 hospitalsME$311Vermont: median $262 across 11 hospitalsVT$262New Hampshire: median $241 across 17 hospitalsNH$241Washington: median $569 across 58 hospitalsWA$569Idaho: median $532 across 18 hospitalsID$532Montana: median $296 across 25 hospitalsMT$296North Dakota: median $616 across 17 hospitalsND$616Minnesota: median $549 across 72 hospitalsMN$549Illinois: median $558 across 107 hospitalsIL$558Wisconsin: median $514 across 78 hospitalsWI$514Michigan: median $630 across 72 hospitalsMI$630New York: median $833 across 94 hospitalsNY$833Massachusetts: median $490 across 42 hospitalsMA$490Oregon: median $458 across 46 hospitalsOR$458Nevada: median $591 across 13 hospitalsNV$591Wyoming: median $370 across 11 hospitalsWY$370South Dakota: median $698 across 18 hospitalsSD$698Iowa: median $307 across 61 hospitalsIA$307Indiana: median $277 across 47 hospitalsIN$277Ohio: median $666 across 96 hospitalsOH$666Pennsylvania: median $753 across 105 hospitalsPA$753New Jersey: median $1,739 across 48 hospitalsNJ$1,739Connecticut: median $680 across 18 hospitalsCT$680Rhode Island: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $1,295 across 127 hospitalsCA$1,295Utah: median $441 across 29 hospitalsUT$441Colorado: median $587 across 37 hospitalsCO$587Nebraska: median $363 across 53 hospitalsNE$363Missouri: median $315 across 52 hospitalsMO$315Kentucky: median $347 across 33 hospitalsKY$347West Virginia: median $564 across 32 hospitalsWV$564Virginia: median $475 across 53 hospitalsVA$475Maryland: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $208 across 19 hospitalsAZ$208New Mexico: median $237 across 18 hospitalsNM$237Kansas: median $275 across 43 hospitalsKS$275Arkansas: median $341 across 16 hospitalsAR$341Tennessee: median $205 across 38 hospitalsTN$205North Carolina: median $364 across 51 hospitalsNC$364South Carolina: median $515 across 44 hospitalsSC$515Oklahoma: median $436 across 51 hospitalsOK$436Louisiana: median $263 across 42 hospitalsLA$263Mississippi: median $251 across 43 hospitalsMS$251Alabama: median $467 across 23 hospitalsAL$467Georgia: median $525 across 72 hospitalsGA$525Hawaii: median $1,264 across 16 hospitalsHI$1,264Texas: median $632 across 148 hospitalsTX$632Florida: median $1,063 across 78 hospitalsFL$1,063
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $547. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
New Jersey NJ48$1,739+218%$779 – $4,536
California CA127$1,295+137%$602 – $1,994
Hawaii HI16$1,264+131%$530 – $2,060
Florida FL78$1,063+94%$393 – $2,125
New York NY94$833+52%$200 – $1,550
Pennsylvania PA105$753+38%$402 – $1,022
South Dakota SD18$698+27%$300 – $1,673
Connecticut CT18$680+24%$370 – $1,243
Ohio OH96$666+22%$296 – $1,440
Texas TX148$632+15%$426 – $997
Michigan MI72$630+15%$153 – $974
North Dakota ND17$616+13%$311 – $792
Nevada NV13$591+8%$235 – $770
Colorado CO37$587+7%$300 – $1,256
Washington WA58$569+4%$336 – $1,046
West Virginia WV32$564+3%$206 – $1,274
Illinois IL107$558+2%$225 – $1,009
Minnesota MN72$5490%$284 – $780
Idaho ID18$532−3%$237 – $1,783
Georgia GA72$525−4%$287 – $1,027
South Carolina SC44$515−6%$330 – $671
Wisconsin WI78$514−6%$340 – $779
Massachusetts MA42$490−10%$345 – $1,007
Alaska AK16$486−11%$244 – $946
Virginia VA53$475−13%$378 – $924
Alabama AL23$467−15%$234 – $811
Oregon OR46$458−16%$336 – $809
Utah UT29$441−19%$363 – $482
Oklahoma OK51$436−20%$155 – $860
Wyoming WY11$370−32%$154 – $410
North Carolina NC51$364−34%$302 – $700
Nebraska NE53$363−34%$277 – $560
Kentucky KY33$347−37%$202 – $864
Arkansas AR16$341−38%$171 – $537
Missouri MO52$315−43%$172 – $818
Maine ME21$311−43%$178 – $476
Iowa IA61$307−44%$216 – $558
Montana MT25$296−46%$160 – $456
Indiana IN47$277−49%$182 – $745
Kansas KS43$275−50%$131 – $667
Louisiana LA42$263−52%$131 – $612
Vermont VT11$262−52%$170 – $1,124
Mississippi MS43$251−54%$127 – $618
New Hampshire NH17$241−56%$131 – $445
New Mexico NM18$237−57%$168 – $685
Arizona AZ19$208−62%$208 – $2,111
Tennessee TN38$205−63%$57 – $566
Rhode Island RI6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD2not 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 $547.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,556$632$284 – $1,184
Children’s52$791$396 – $3,061
Critical access628$359$199 – $742
Ownership
For-profit224$741$288 – $1,631
Government422$410$219 – $820
Non-profit1,590$575$238 – $1,027
System affiliation
Part of a system1,796$573$254 – $1,046
Independent445$417$213 – $916

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$858
Median cash price$547
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

1,666 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $567 and the average of the middle 60% is $593; most fall between $254 and $1,033.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,666 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
$165$305$567$920$1,680

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 10× what the cheapest tenth charges ($165 vs $1,680).

Of the 1,787 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,666 gave a usable cash price; 42 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 79 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,241 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (57%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 2,407 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,241
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here73
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded2
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded91
Hospitals that filed this code2,407

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 therapeutic ear procedures family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Drainage External Ear Abscess/Hematoma Simple.

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, “Drainage of outer ear abscess or blood collection (CPT 69000) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-69000-drainage-of-outer-ear-abscess-or-blood-collection