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Procedure price report · Other diagnostic radiology and related techniques

X-ray dye study of the tear duct

CPT 70170the billing code this page is about

X-ray imaging of the tear drainage duct after contrast dye is placed, to show the shape and flow of the duct.

Hospitals typically charge $412 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 451 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $509. Most fall between $231 and $993 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
451
States
43
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 451 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
$147$268$412$914$1,381

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.4× what the cheapest tenth charges ($147 vs $1,381).

How the prices are spread

$39 – $59: 15 hospitals$39$59 – $87: 4 hospitals$87 – $131: 9 hospitals$87$131 – $195: 32 hospitals$195 – $291: 69 hospitals$195$291 – $435: 88 hospitals$435 – $649: 61 hospitals$435$649 – $969: 53 hospitals$969 – $1,448: 62 hospitals$969$1,448 – $2,162: 32 hospitals$1,448median $412price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (425 of 451 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$39$5915
$59$874
$87$1319
$131$19532
$195$29169
$291$43588
$435$64961
$649$96953
$969$1,44862
$1,448$2,16232

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$244
Median cash price$412
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.69×

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 $412.

Alaska: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceAKMaine: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $379 across 12 hospitalsWA$379Idaho: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceIDMontana: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $339 across 16 hospitalsIL$339Wisconsin: median $1,334 across 20 hospitalsWI$1,334Michigan: median $805 across 15 hospitalsMI$805New York: median $286 across 33 hospitalsNY$286Massachusetts: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNVWyoming: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: median $39 across 13 hospitalsIA$39Indiana: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureINOhio: median $380 across 11 hospitalsOH$380Pennsylvania: median $409 across 29 hospitalsPA$409New Jersey: median $268 across 13 hospitalsNJ$268Connecticut: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceCTRhode Island: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $993 across 57 hospitalsCA$993Utah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: median $1,059 across 12 hospitalsCO$1,059Nebraska: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $368 across 20 hospitalsVA$368Maryland: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: median $341 across 27 hospitalsNC$341South Carolina: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $25 across 11 hospitalsOK$25Louisiana: 7 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: median $573 across 12 hospitalsGA$573Hawaii: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $865 across 31 hospitalsTX$865Florida: median $454 across 25 hospitalsFL$454
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $412. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Wisconsin WI20$1,334+224%$468 – $1,334
Colorado CO12$1,059+157%$722 – $1,059
California CA57$993+141%$683 – $2,162
Texas TX31$865+110%$181 – $908
Michigan MI15$805+95%$328 – $805
Georgia GA12$573+39%$147 – $573
Florida FL25$454+10%$285 – $1,381
Pennsylvania PA29$409−1%$243 – $1,145
Ohio OH11$380−8%$290 – $3,350
Washington WA12$379−8%$342 – $880
Virginia VA20$368−11%$219 – $376
North Carolina NC27$341−17%$315 – $356
Illinois IL16$339−18%$139 – $474
New York NY33$286−31%$275 – $656
New Jersey NJ13$268−35%$268 – $309
Iowa IA13$39−90%$39 – $39
Oklahoma OK11$25−94%$25 – $377
Arizona AZ7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Indiana IN4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT1not 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 $412.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care408$392$219 – $993
Children’s14fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access29$578$275 – $1,334
Ownership
For-profit48$688$237 – $1,381
Government55$321$231 – $582
Non-profit348$414$221 – $993
System affiliation
Part of a system406$427$234 – $1,049
Independent45$331$191 – $716

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$760
Median cash price$412
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

332 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $520 and the average of the middle 60% is $593; most fall between $219 and $1,137.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 332 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
$123$275$520$993$1,698

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 14× what the cheapest tenth charges ($123 vs $1,698).

Of the 369 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 332 gave a usable cash price; 31 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

451 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (11%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 505 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted451
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here43
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 — excluded11
Hospitals that filed this code505

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 diagnostic radiology and related techniques family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Dacryocstograpy Nasolacrimal Duct Rs&I|PROFESSIONAL COMPONENT.

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, “X-ray dye study of the tear duct (CPT 70170) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-70170-x-ray-dye-study-of-the-tear-duct