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Procedure price report · Diagnostic ultrasound or optical coherence tomography (OCT) of head and neck

Limited ultrasound of arteries inside the head

CPT 93888the billing code this page is about

A transcranial Doppler study of blood flow in the arteries inside the skull, covering only selected vessels rather than a full study.

Hospitals typically charge $424 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,449 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $429. Most fall between $174 and $796 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,449
States
50
Filings dated
Feb 2024 – 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 1,449 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
$116$212$424$680$1,318

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 11× what the cheapest tenth charges ($116 vs $1,318).

How the prices are spread

$66 – $93: 31 hospitals$66$93 – $131: 97 hospitals$131 – $184: 120 hospitals$131$184 – $260: 128 hospitals$260 – $367: 187 hospitals$260$367 – $518: 296 hospitals$518 – $730: 194 hospitals$518$730 – $1,030: 135 hospitals$1,030 – $1,454: 63 hospitals$1,030$1,454 – $2,051: 58 hospitals$1,454median $424price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,309 of 1,449 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$66$9331
$93$13197
$131$184120
$184$260128
$260$367187
$367$518296
$518$730194
$730$1,030135
$1,030$1,45463
$1,454$2,05158

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$107
Median cash price$424
Cash as a multiple of Medicare4.0×

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 $424.

Alaska: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $413 across 40 hospitalsWA$413Idaho: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $480 across 15 hospitalsMN$480Illinois: median $463 across 45 hospitalsIL$463Wisconsin: median $456 across 51 hospitalsWI$456Michigan: median $305 across 59 hospitalsMI$305New York: median $209 across 49 hospitalsNY$209Massachusetts: median $398 across 22 hospitalsMA$398Oregon: median $496 across 29 hospitalsOR$496Nevada: median $160 across 11 hospitalsNV$160Wyoming: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $66 across 16 hospitalsIA$66Indiana: median $863 across 45 hospitalsIN$863Ohio: median $454 across 77 hospitalsOH$454Pennsylvania: median $239 across 70 hospitalsPA$239New Jersey: median $142 across 42 hospitalsNJ$142Connecticut: median $350 across 13 hospitalsCT$350Rhode Island: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $498 across 122 hospitalsCA$498Utah: median $594 across 26 hospitalsUT$594Colorado: median $384 across 28 hospitalsCO$384Nebraska: median $309 across 14 hospitalsNE$309Missouri: median $459 across 21 hospitalsMO$459Kentucky: median $425 across 20 hospitalsKY$425West Virginia: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $478 across 36 hospitalsVA$478Maryland: median $1,230 across 17 hospitalsMD$1,230Delaware: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $234 across 28 hospitalsAZ$234New Mexico: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $350 across 13 hospitalsKS$350Arkansas: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $230 across 38 hospitalsTN$230North Carolina: median $293 across 32 hospitalsNC$293South Carolina: median $420 across 37 hospitalsSC$420Oklahoma: median $169 across 26 hospitalsOK$169Louisiana: median $180 across 25 hospitalsLA$180Mississippi: median $185 across 18 hospitalsMS$185Alabama: median $287 across 13 hospitalsAL$287Georgia: median $620 across 52 hospitalsGA$620Hawaii: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $418 across 119 hospitalsTX$418Florida: median $590 across 102 hospitalsFL$590
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $424. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Maryland MD17$1,230+190%$881 – $1,632
Indiana IN45$863+104%$85 – $1,019
Georgia GA52$620+46%$126 – $1,318
Utah UT26$594+40%$594 – $699
Florida FL102$590+39%$382 – $1,575
California CA122$498+18%$209 – $1,134
Oregon OR29$496+17%$393 – $926
Minnesota MN15$480+13%$239 – $664
Virginia VA36$478+13%$360 – $536
Illinois IL45$463+9%$131 – $869
Missouri MO21$459+8%$337 – $558
Wisconsin WI51$456+8%$306 – $796
Ohio OH77$454+7%$379 – $788
Kentucky KY20$4250%$173 – $991
South Carolina SC37$420−1%$363 – $596
Texas TX119$418−1%$319 – $819
Washington WA40$413−2%$304 – $600
Massachusetts MA22$398−6%$265 – $959
Colorado CO28$384−9%$193 – $560
Kansas KS13$350−17%$98 – $1,405
Connecticut CT13$350−17%$242 – $552
Nebraska NE14$309−27%$199 – $439
Michigan MI59$305−28%$65 – $673
North Carolina NC32$293−31%$174 – $610
Alabama AL13$287−32%$167 – $679
Pennsylvania PA70$239−44%$107 – $1,104
Arizona AZ28$234−45%$154 – $1,717
Tennessee TN38$230−46%$168 – $487
New York NY49$209−51%$126 – $533
Mississippi MS18$185−56%$163 – $360
Louisiana LA25$180−57%$93 – $265
Oklahoma OK26$169−60%$50 – $272
Nevada NV11$160−62%$113 – $709
New Jersey NJ42$142−66%$121 – $464
Iowa IA16$66−85%$66 – $459
Arkansas AR9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT2not 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 $424.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,255$418$169 – $796
Children’s47$548$301 – $1,318
Critical access140$393$163 – $594
Ownership
For-profit195$552$202 – $1,897
Government152$377$132 – $634
Non-profit1,095$413$174 – $743
System affiliation
Part of a system1,299$432$180 – $815
Independent150$307$139 – $677

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$766
Median cash price$424
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

1,080 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $440 and the average of the middle 60% is $445; most fall between $209 and $743.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,080 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$248$440$656$1,103

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.0× what the cheapest tenth charges ($123 vs $1,103).

Of the 1,122 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,080 gave a usable cash price; 12 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 30 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,449 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (37%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,511 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,449
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here20
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded2
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded2
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded38
Hospitals that filed this code1,511

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 Diagnostic ultrasound or optical coherence tomography (OCT) of head and neck family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Transcranial Doppler Stdy Intracranial Art Lmtd|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, “Limited ultrasound of arteries inside the head (CPT 93888) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-93888-limited-ultrasound-of-arteries-inside-the-head