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Procedure price report · Other therapeutic ear procedures

Release of middle ear scar tissue through the ear canal

CPT 69450the billing code this page is about

Cutting and freeing scar bands or adhesions inside the middle ear, reached through the ear canal without an outside incision.

Hospitals typically charge $2,161 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 292 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,696. Most fall between $838 and $5,326 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
292
States
42
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 292 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
$616$921$2,161$5,326$6,178

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 10× what the cheapest tenth charges ($616 vs $6,178).

How the prices are spread

$551 – $727: 22 hospitals$551$727 – $959: 40 hospitals$959 – $1,265: 21 hospitals$959$1,265 – $1,669: 39 hospitals$1,669 – $2,202: 10 hospitals$1,669$2,202 – $2,905: 10 hospitals$2,905 – $3,832: 24 hospitals$2,905$3,832 – $5,054: 32 hospitals$5,054 – $6,667: 58 hospitals$5,054$6,667 – $8,795: 9 hospitals$6,667median $2,161price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (265 of 292 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$551$72722
$727$95940
$959$1,26521
$1,265$1,66939
$1,669$2,20210
$2,202$2,90510
$2,905$3,83224
$3,832$5,05432
$5,054$6,66758
$6,667$8,7959

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$3,387
Median cash price$2,161
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.64×

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 $2,161.

Alaska: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMEVermont: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $820 across 12 hospitalsIL$820Wisconsin: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWIMichigan: median $614 across 18 hospitalsMI$614New York: median $3,838 across 23 hospitalsNY$3,838Massachusetts: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 3 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 $1,330 across 17 hospitalsIA$1,330Indiana: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureINOhio: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureOHPennsylvania: median $158 across 18 hospitalsPA$158New Jersey: median $3,986 across 22 hospitalsNJ$3,986Connecticut: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $3,230 across 43 hospitalsCA$3,230Utah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $894 across 12 hospitalsOK$894Louisiana: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMSAlabama: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceGAHawaii: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $5,550 across 20 hospitalsTX$5,550Florida: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $2,161. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Texas TX20$5,550+157%$4,321 – $5,550
New Jersey NJ22$3,986+84%$3,590 – $5,419
New York NY23$3,838+78%$1,510 – $3,935
California CA43$3,230+49%$1,456 – $5,326
Iowa IA17$1,330−38%$1,268 – $1,330
Oklahoma OK12$894−59%$894 – $894
Illinois IL12$820−62%$820 – $3,306
Michigan MI18$614−72%$614 – $4,559
Pennsylvania PA18$158−93%$124 – $5,483
Ohio OH9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wisconsin WI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Indiana IN4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA1not 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 $2,161.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care251$2,671$894 – $5,326
Children’s10fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access31$1,583$820 – $6,178
Ownership
For-profit29$4,570$820 – $8,795
Government39$2,033$988 – $3,838
Non-profit224$1,981$820 – $5,326
System affiliation
Part of a system241$2,999$827 – $5,483
Independent51$1,650$936 – $4,290

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,342
Median cash price$2,161
Cash as a share of list, median hospital56%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 44%. 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

172 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,456 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,193; most fall between $820 and $5,326.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 172 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
$616$894$1,456$5,326$5,550

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.0× what the cheapest tenth charges ($616 vs $5,550).

Of the 183 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 172 gave a usable cash price; 8 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 3 a list price only.

How complete is this

292 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (7%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 322 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted292
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here25
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded1
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded4
Hospitals that filed this code322

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 Tympanolysis Transcanal.

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, “Release of middle ear scar tissue through the ear canal (CPT 69450) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-69450-release-of-middle-ear-scar-tissue-through-the-ear-canal