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Procedure price report · Other therapeutic ear procedures

Complex drainage of outer ear abscess or blood pocket

CPT 69005the billing code this page is about

Opening and draining a pocket of pus or collected blood in the outer ear when the case is complicated and requires more extensive work.

Hospitals typically charge $1,781 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,382 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,833. Most fall between $517 and $3,650 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,382
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 1,382 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
$310$632$1,781$3,241$4,665

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 15× what the cheapest tenth charges ($310 vs $4,665).

How the prices are spread

$240 – $337: 89 hospitals$240$337 – $472: 94 hospitals$472 – $662: 103 hospitals$472$662 – $927: 100 hospitals$927 – $1,299: 101 hospitals$927$1,299 – $1,820: 147 hospitals$1,820 – $2,551: 204 hospitals$1,820$2,551 – $3,575: 187 hospitals$3,575 – $5,010: 168 hospitals$3,575$5,010 – $7,020: 52 hospitals$5,010median $1,781price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,245 of 1,382 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$240$33789
$337$47294
$472$662103
$662$927100
$927$1,299101
$1,299$1,820147
$1,820$2,551204
$2,551$3,575187
$3,575$5,010168
$5,010$7,02052

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$1,687
Median cash price$1,781
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.06×

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 $1,781.

Alaska: median $1,487 across 10 hospitalsAK$1,487Maine: median $932 across 12 hospitalsME$932Vermont: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $2,027 across 34 hospitalsWA$2,027Idaho: median $1,545 across 14 hospitalsID$1,545Montana: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $1,136 across 43 hospitalsMN$1,136Illinois: median $1,310 across 51 hospitalsIL$1,310Wisconsin: median $1,085 across 56 hospitalsWI$1,085Michigan: median $944 across 41 hospitalsMI$944New York: median $1,917 across 68 hospitalsNY$1,917Massachusetts: median $2,314 across 27 hospitalsMA$2,314Oregon: median $624 across 30 hospitalsOR$624Nevada: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $650 across 27 hospitalsIA$650Indiana: median $580 across 32 hospitalsIN$580Ohio: median $3,716 across 59 hospitalsOH$3,716Pennsylvania: median $2,161 across 52 hospitalsPA$2,161New Jersey: median $2,137 across 37 hospitalsNJ$2,137Connecticut: median $1,153 across 14 hospitalsCT$1,153Rhode Island: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $3,047 across 105 hospitalsCA$3,047Utah: median $369 across 24 hospitalsUT$369Colorado: median $1,635 across 21 hospitalsCO$1,635Nebraska: median $497 across 20 hospitalsNE$497Missouri: median $491 across 35 hospitalsMO$491Kentucky: median $929 across 14 hospitalsKY$929West Virginia: median $1,899 across 20 hospitalsWV$1,899Virginia: median $1,695 across 40 hospitalsVA$1,695Maryland: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $10,595 across 11 hospitalsAZ$10,595New Mexico: median $885 across 12 hospitalsNM$885Kansas: median $399 across 16 hospitalsKS$399Arkansas: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $676 across 16 hospitalsTN$676North Carolina: median $966 across 32 hospitalsNC$966South Carolina: median $1,983 across 37 hospitalsSC$1,983Oklahoma: median $386 across 26 hospitalsOK$386Louisiana: median $1,421 across 28 hospitalsLA$1,421Mississippi: median $774 across 22 hospitalsMS$774Alabama: median $1,071 across 10 hospitalsAL$1,071Georgia: median $2,312 across 52 hospitalsGA$2,312Hawaii: median $3,536 across 12 hospitalsHI$3,536Texas: median $2,896 across 107 hospitalsTX$2,896Florida: median $4,276 across 54 hospitalsFL$4,276
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,781. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Arizona AZ11$10,595+495%$2,027 – $10,595
Florida FL54$4,276+140%$1,393 – $5,571
Ohio OH59$3,716+109%$396 – $4,213
Hawaii HI12$3,536+99%$3,345 – $4,014
California CA105$3,047+71%$1,412 – $4,665
Texas TX107$2,896+63%$1,371 – $3,631
Massachusetts MA27$2,314+30%$858 – $3,756
Georgia GA52$2,312+30%$637 – $7,287
Pennsylvania PA52$2,161+21%$1,215 – $4,498
New Jersey NJ37$2,137+20%$1,795 – $5,741
Washington WA34$2,027+14%$411 – $4,308
South Carolina SC37$1,983+11%$1,540 – $5,503
New York NY68$1,917+8%$475 – $4,246
West Virginia WV20$1,899+7%$388 – $2,835
Virginia VA40$1,695−5%$958 – $2,457
Colorado CO21$1,635−8%$1,098 – $1,990
Idaho ID14$1,545−13%$410 – $4,347
Alaska AK10$1,487−16%$595 – $2,924
Louisiana LA28$1,421−20%$794 – $2,293
Illinois IL51$1,310−26%$575 – $3,717
Connecticut CT14$1,153−35%$870 – $2,669
Minnesota MN43$1,136−36%$394 – $1,735
Wisconsin WI56$1,085−39%$589 – $3,092
Alabama AL10$1,071−40%$266 – $3,241
North Carolina NC32$966−46%$902 – $2,729
Michigan MI41$944−47%$184 – $2,904
Maine ME12$932−48%$609 – $2,809
Kentucky KY14$929−48%$254 – $2,604
New Mexico NM12$885−50%$445 – $1,935
Mississippi MS22$774−57%$306 – $1,003
Tennessee TN16$676−62%$406 – $953
Iowa IA27$650−63%$360 – $2,968
Oregon OR30$624−65%$399 – $2,811
Indiana IN32$580−67%$254 – $1,666
Nebraska NE20$497−72%$374 – $1,594
Missouri MO35$491−72%$309 – $2,665
Kansas KS16$399−78%$200 – $2,410
Oklahoma OK26$386−78%$267 – $1,519
Utah UT24$369−79%$328 – $1,686
Montana MT9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE1not 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 $1,781.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,068$1,951$663 – $3,749
Children’s38$3,242$1,371 – $7,906
Critical access275$650$327 – $2,753
Ownership
For-profit137$2,197$681 – $4,311
Government222$1,132$437 – $2,896
Non-profit1,022$1,879$517 – $3,717
System affiliation
Part of a system1,155$1,917$587 – $3,750
Independent227$1,194$328 – $2,454

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$3,183
Median cash price$1,781
Cash as a share of list, median hospital60%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 40%. 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

1,034 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,951 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,017; most fall between $616 and $3,727.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,034 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
$347$856$1,951$3,403$4,665

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 13× what the cheapest tenth charges ($347 vs $4,665).

Of the 1,101 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,034 gave a usable cash price; 39 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 28 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,382 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (35%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,488 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,382
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here71
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 — excluded35
Hospitals that filed this code1,488

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 July 20, 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 Comp.

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, “Complex drainage of outer ear abscess or blood pocket (CPT 69005) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-69005-complex-drainage-of-outer-ear-abscess-or-blood-pocket