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Procedure price report · Pathology

Frozen tissue exam during surgery, first specimen

CPT 88331the billing code this page is about

Tissue removed during an operation is frozen, sliced onto slides, and read immediately so results reach the surgeon. Covers the first specimen and its first tissue block.

Hospitals typically charge $200 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,838 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $209. Most fall between $101 and $370 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,838
States
50
Filings dated
Mar 2023 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 25, 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 2,838 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
$67$120$200$320$620

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.2× what the cheapest tenth charges ($67 vs $620).

How the prices are spread

$47 – $63: 123 hospitals$47$63 – $85: 161 hospitals$85 – $115: 261 hospitals$85$115 – $155: 323 hospitals$155 – $208: 485 hospitals$155$208 – $281: 446 hospitals$281 – $378: 343 hospitals$281$378 – $510: 183 hospitals$510 – $687: 124 hospitals$510$687 – $926: 110 hospitals$687median $200price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,559 of 2,838 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$47$63123
$63$85161
$85$115261
$115$155323
$155$208485
$208$281446
$281$378343
$378$510183
$510$687124
$687$926110

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$174
Median cash price$200
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.15×

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 $200.

Alaska: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $140 across 23 hospitalsME$140Vermont: median $215 across 10 hospitalsVT$215New Hampshire: median $190 across 22 hospitalsNH$190Washington: median $182 across 53 hospitalsWA$182Idaho: median $210 across 17 hospitalsID$210Montana: median $113 across 15 hospitalsMT$113North Dakota: median $133 across 13 hospitalsND$133Minnesota: median $167 across 75 hospitalsMN$167Illinois: median $216 across 123 hospitalsIL$216Wisconsin: median $224 across 93 hospitalsWI$224Michigan: median $148 across 94 hospitalsMI$148New York: median $235 across 103 hospitalsNY$235Massachusetts: median $279 across 50 hospitalsMA$279Oregon: median $177 across 42 hospitalsOR$177Nevada: median $189 across 13 hospitalsNV$189Wyoming: median $195 across 13 hospitalsWY$195South Dakota: median $129 across 18 hospitalsSD$129Iowa: median $156 across 67 hospitalsIA$156Indiana: median $232 across 88 hospitalsIN$232Ohio: median $215 across 138 hospitalsOH$215Pennsylvania: median $209 across 121 hospitalsPA$209New Jersey: median $190 across 56 hospitalsNJ$190Connecticut: median $222 across 22 hospitalsCT$222Rhode Island: median $176 across 10 hospitalsRI$176California: median $227 across 157 hospitalsCA$227Utah: median $197 across 37 hospitalsUT$197Colorado: median $265 across 55 hospitalsCO$265Nebraska: median $180 across 40 hospitalsNE$180Missouri: median $175 across 68 hospitalsMO$175Kentucky: median $166 across 52 hospitalsKY$166West Virginia: median $159 across 35 hospitalsWV$159Virginia: median $160 across 66 hospitalsVA$160Maryland: median $82 across 40 hospitalsMD$82Delaware: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $237 across 34 hospitalsAZ$237New Mexico: median $244 across 16 hospitalsNM$244Kansas: median $218 across 60 hospitalsKS$218Arkansas: median $130 across 28 hospitalsAR$130Tennessee: median $72 across 75 hospitalsTN$72North Carolina: median $225 across 84 hospitalsNC$225South Carolina: median $206 across 51 hospitalsSC$206Oklahoma: median $165 across 55 hospitalsOK$165Louisiana: median $86 across 51 hospitalsLA$86Mississippi: median $98 across 46 hospitalsMS$98Alabama: median $200 across 35 hospitalsAL$200Georgia: median $171 across 88 hospitalsGA$171Hawaii: median $293 across 16 hospitalsHI$293Texas: median $288 across 216 hospitalsTX$288Florida: median $508 across 138 hospitalsFL$508
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $200. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Florida FL138$508+154%$154 – $1,441
Hawaii HI16$293+46%$107 – $363
Texas TX216$288+44%$179 – $833
Massachusetts MA50$279+40%$187 – $505
Colorado CO55$265+32%$132 – $736
New Mexico NM16$244+22%$146 – $490
Arizona AZ34$237+18%$97 – $386
New York NY103$235+17%$118 – $519
Indiana IN88$232+16%$123 – $324
California CA157$227+14%$132 – $359
North Carolina NC84$225+12%$122 – $311
Wisconsin WI93$224+12%$138 – $314
Connecticut CT22$222+11%$144 – $434
Kansas KS60$218+9%$136 – $372
Illinois IL123$216+8%$107 – $385
Ohio OH138$215+8%$131 – $521
Vermont VT10$215+8%$181 – $387
Idaho ID17$210+5%$100 – $760
Pennsylvania PA121$209+5%$106 – $430
South Carolina SC51$206+3%$158 – $347
Alabama AL35$2000%$102 – $335
Utah UT37$197−2%$167 – $312
Wyoming WY13$195−2%$125 – $275
New Hampshire NH22$190−5%$108 – $412
New Jersey NJ56$190−5%$68 – $301
Nevada NV13$189−6%$40 – $720
Washington WA53$182−9%$120 – $294
Nebraska NE40$180−10%$83 – $332
Oregon OR42$177−12%$123 – $248
Rhode Island RI10$176−12%$152 – $227
Missouri MO68$175−13%$113 – $298
Georgia GA88$171−15%$95 – $470
Minnesota MN75$167−17%$75 – $253
Kentucky KY52$166−17%$102 – $279
Oklahoma OK55$165−18%$86 – $345
Virginia VA66$160−20%$97 – $309
West Virginia WV35$159−21%$64 – $363
Iowa IA67$156−22%$83 – $213
Michigan MI94$148−26%$68 – $234
Maine ME23$140−30%$57 – $201
North Dakota ND13$133−33%$94 – $242
Arkansas AR28$130−35%$73 – $199
South Dakota SD18$129−36%$98 – $266
Montana MT15$113−44%$68 – $249
Mississippi MS46$98−51%$60 – $164
Louisiana LA51$86−57%$49 – $219
Maryland MD40$82−59%$63 – $98
Tennessee TN75$72−64%$47 – $211
Alaska AK9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE7not 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 $200.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,226$203$103 – $393
Children’s61$247$153 – $442
Critical access541$179$90 – $300
Ownership
For-profit443$283$117 – $904
Government413$190$95 – $306
Non-profit1,972$193$100 – $344
System affiliation
Part of a system2,368$201$101 – $384
Independent470$193$96 – $342

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$344
Median cash price$200
Cash as a share of list, median hospital63%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 37%. 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

1,987 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $200 and the average of the middle 60% is $211; most fall between $104 and $365.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,987 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
$69$122$200$322$561

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.2× what the cheapest tenth charges ($69 vs $561).

Of the 2,188 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,987 gave a usable cash price; 115 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 86 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,838 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (72%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,087 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,838
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here154
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 — excluded94
Hospitals that filed this code3,087

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 25, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 25, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Related procedures

Part of the Pathology family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Path Consltj Surg 1st Blk Frozen Sctj 1st Spec|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, “Frozen tissue exam during surgery, first specimen (CPT 88331) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-88331-frozen-tissue-exam-during-surgery-first-specimen