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Procedure price report · Diagnostic procedures on ear

Biopsy of the outer ear

CPT 69100the billing code this page is about

Removal of a small piece of tissue from the outer ear so it can be examined in the laboratory.

Hospitals typically charge $273 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,043 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $319. Most fall between $128 and $708 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,043
States
49
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 1,043 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
$84$147$273$604$1,063

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 13× what the cheapest tenth charges ($84 vs $1,063).

How the prices are spread

$53 – $77: 32 hospitals$53$77 – $110: 94 hospitals$110 – $157: 102 hospitals$110$157 – $226: 147 hospitals$226 – $323: 175 hospitals$226$323 – $463: 110 hospitals$463 – $664: 106 hospitals$463$664 – $952: 80 hospitals$952 – $1,365: 65 hospitals$952$1,365 – $1,957: 28 hospitals$1,365median $273price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (939 of 1,043 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$53$7732
$77$11094
$110$157102
$157$226147
$226$323175
$323$463110
$463$664106
$664$95280
$952$1,36565
$1,365$1,95728

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$242
Median cash price$273
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.13×

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 $273.

Alaska: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $152 across 12 hospitalsME$152Vermont: median $146 across 10 hospitalsVT$146New Hampshire: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $261 across 19 hospitalsWA$261Idaho: median $341 across 13 hospitalsID$341Montana: median $149 across 12 hospitalsMT$149North Dakota: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $299 across 42 hospitalsMN$299Illinois: median $244 across 49 hospitalsIL$244Wisconsin: median $316 across 54 hospitalsWI$316Michigan: median $151 across 35 hospitalsMI$151New York: median $275 across 50 hospitalsNY$275Massachusetts: median $372 across 18 hospitalsMA$372Oregon: median $172 across 27 hospitalsOR$172Nevada: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: median $265 across 12 hospitalsSD$265Iowa: median $229 across 37 hospitalsIA$229Indiana: median $123 across 24 hospitalsIN$123Ohio: median $378 across 33 hospitalsOH$378Pennsylvania: median $280 across 43 hospitalsPA$280New Jersey: median $1,045 across 33 hospitalsNJ$1,045Connecticut: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $1,030 across 64 hospitalsCA$1,030Utah: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $411 across 17 hospitalsCO$411Nebraska: median $194 across 34 hospitalsNE$194Missouri: median $199 across 35 hospitalsMO$199Kentucky: median $137 across 14 hospitalsKY$137West Virginia: median $227 across 27 hospitalsWV$227Virginia: median $246 across 18 hospitalsVA$246Maryland: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: median $3,841 across 15 hospitalsAZ$3,841New Mexico: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $146 across 28 hospitalsKS$146Arkansas: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: median $1,063 across 22 hospitalsNC$1,063South Carolina: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $77 across 22 hospitalsOK$77Louisiana: median $377 across 21 hospitalsLA$377Mississippi: median $184 across 12 hospitalsMS$184Alabama: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $417 across 24 hospitalsGA$417Hawaii: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $737 across 42 hospitalsTX$737Florida: median $726 across 35 hospitalsFL$726
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $273. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Arizona AZ15$3,841+1306%$291 – $3,841
North Carolina NC22$1,063+289%$220 – $1,063
New Jersey NJ33$1,045+283%$257 – $5,741
California CA64$1,030+277%$295 – $1,404
Texas TX42$737+170%$200 – $906
Florida FL35$726+166%$225 – $1,180
Georgia GA24$417+53%$257 – $697
Colorado CO17$411+50%$174 – $606
Ohio OH33$378+38%$123 – $604
Louisiana LA21$377+38%$214 – $484
Massachusetts MA18$372+36%$152 – $1,284
Idaho ID13$341+25%$196 – $649
Wisconsin WI54$316+16%$176 – $510
Minnesota MN42$299+10%$140 – $449
Pennsylvania PA43$280+2%$35 – $448
New York NY50$275+1%$132 – $585
South Dakota SD12$265−3%$210 – $705
Washington WA19$261−4%$148 – $864
Virginia VA18$246−10%$53 – $283
Illinois IL49$244−11%$110 – $744
Iowa IA37$229−16%$122 – $242
West Virginia WV27$227−17%$138 – $388
Missouri MO35$199−27%$106 – $399
Nebraska NE34$194−29%$109 – $324
Mississippi MS12$184−33%$162 – $301
Oregon OR27$172−37%$96 – $272
Maine ME12$152−44%$110 – $270
Michigan MI35$151−45%$62 – $319
Montana MT12$149−45%$73 – $220
Vermont VT10$146−46%$44 – $276
Kansas KS28$146−46%$99 – $254
Kentucky KY14$137−50%$73 – $446
Indiana IN24$123−55%$95 – $174
Oklahoma OK22$77−72%$77 – $683
New Hampshire NH9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT2not 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 $273.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care711$349$157 – $906
Children’s17fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access313$177$99 – $319
Ownership
For-profit74$547$177 – $2,082
Government208$225$109 – $455
Non-profit759$280$126 – $697
System affiliation
Part of a system838$283$137 – $744
Independent205$210$109 – $469

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$432
Median cash price$273
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

657 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $316 and the average of the middle 60% is $364; most fall between $140 and $755.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 657 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
$95$169$316$650$1,063

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 11× what the cheapest tenth charges ($95 vs $1,063).

Of the 714 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 657 gave a usable cash price; 26 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 31 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,043 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (26%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,128 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,043
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here54
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 — excluded31
Hospitals that filed this code1,128

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 Diagnostic procedures on ear family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Biopsy External Ear.

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, “Biopsy of the outer ear (CPT 69100) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-69100-biopsy-of-the-outer-ear