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Procedure price report · Other diagnostic nervous system procedures

Needle muscle test (EMG) of head muscles, both sides

CPT 95868the billing code this page is about

Fine needle electrodes are placed in muscles supplied by cranial nerves on both sides of the head or neck to record their electrical activity, with interpretation and report.

Hospitals typically charge $430 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,281 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $439. Most fall between $170 and $802 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,281
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 1,281 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
$118$220$430$673$1,072

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.1× what the cheapest tenth charges ($118 vs $1,072).

How the prices are spread

$75 – $101: 30 hospitals$75$101 – $136: 83 hospitals$136 – $183: 95 hospitals$136$183 – $246: 84 hospitals$246 – $331: 142 hospitals$246$331 – $445: 157 hospitals$445 – $599: 210 hospitals$445$599 – $807: 168 hospitals$807 – $1,086: 123 hospitals$807$1,086 – $1,461: 64 hospitals$1,086median $430price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,156 of 1,281 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$75$10130
$101$13683
$136$18395
$183$24684
$246$331142
$331$445157
$445$599210
$599$807168
$807$1,086123
$1,086$1,46164

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$221
Median cash price$430
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.95×

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 $430.

Alaska: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $388 across 22 hospitalsWA$388Idaho: median $571 across 10 hospitalsID$571Montana: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $369 across 20 hospitalsMN$369Illinois: median $558 across 49 hospitalsIL$558Wisconsin: median $480 across 49 hospitalsWI$480Michigan: median $325 across 55 hospitalsMI$325New York: median $369 across 42 hospitalsNY$369Massachusetts: median $519 across 18 hospitalsMA$519Oregon: median $538 across 15 hospitalsOR$538Nevada: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $142 across 20 hospitalsIA$142Indiana: median $404 across 46 hospitalsIN$404Ohio: median $805 across 66 hospitalsOH$805Pennsylvania: median $444 across 81 hospitalsPA$444New Jersey: median $367 across 30 hospitalsNJ$367Connecticut: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $673 across 110 hospitalsCA$673Utah: median $571 across 26 hospitalsUT$571Colorado: median $491 across 32 hospitalsCO$491Nebraska: median $229 across 12 hospitalsNE$229Missouri: median $411 across 31 hospitalsMO$411Kentucky: median $550 across 22 hospitalsKY$550West Virginia: median $351 across 13 hospitalsWV$351Virginia: median $413 across 30 hospitalsVA$413Maryland: median $208 across 24 hospitalsMD$208Delaware: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $225 across 17 hospitalsAZ$225New Mexico: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: median $168 across 10 hospitalsAR$168Tennessee: median $69 across 24 hospitalsTN$69North Carolina: median $388 across 37 hospitalsNC$388South Carolina: median $1,123 across 21 hospitalsSC$1,123Oklahoma: median $120 across 22 hospitalsOK$120Louisiana: median $127 across 23 hospitalsLA$127Mississippi: median $138 across 11 hospitalsMS$138Alabama: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $566 across 59 hospitalsGA$566Hawaii: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $494 across 88 hospitalsTX$494Florida: median $483 across 63 hospitalsFL$483
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $430. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
South Carolina SC21$1,123+161%$253 – $1,130
Ohio OH66$805+87%$315 – $1,145
California CA110$673+57%$310 – $846
Idaho ID10$571+33%$263 – $1,464
Utah UT26$571+33%$571 – $635
Georgia GA59$566+32%$379 – $622
Illinois IL49$558+30%$134 – $825
Kentucky KY22$550+28%$159 – $583
Oregon OR15$538+25%$110 – $829
Massachusetts MA18$519+21%$354 – $651
Texas TX88$494+15%$259 – $711
Colorado CO32$491+14%$347 – $961
Florida FL63$483+12%$169 – $991
Wisconsin WI49$480+12%$267 – $1,384
Pennsylvania PA81$444+3%$249 – $613
Virginia VA30$413−4%$156 – $518
Missouri MO31$411−5%$174 – $1,071
Indiana IN46$404−6%$139 – $622
North Carolina NC37$388−10%$197 – $800
Washington WA22$388−10%$235 – $608
Minnesota MN20$369−14%$248 – $485
New York NY42$369−14%$184 – $629
New Jersey NJ30$367−15%$279 – $659
West Virginia WV13$351−19%$308 – $392
Michigan MI55$325−25%$74 – $1,023
Nebraska NE12$229−47%$131 – $547
Arizona AZ17$225−48%$98 – $602
Maryland MD24$208−52%$122 – $400
Arkansas AR10$168−61%$137 – $532
Iowa IA20$142−67%$131 – $281
Mississippi MS11$138−68%$131 – $191
Louisiana LA23$127−70%$106 – $494
Oklahoma OK22$120−72%$120 – $343
Tennessee TN24$69−84%$69 – $201
Alabama AL9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI1not 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 $430.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,098$433$173 – $805
Children’s51$349$165 – $771
Critical access125$413$168 – $664
Ownership
For-profit137$494$220 – $1,048
Government142$369$168 – $664
Non-profit995$443$169 – $805
System affiliation
Part of a system1,118$467$175 – $807
Independent163$303$153 – $596

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$743
Median cash price$430
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

961 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $483 and the average of the middle 60% is $495; most fall between $183 and $846.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 961 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
$120$250$483$771$1,123

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.3× what the cheapest tenth charges ($120 vs $1,123).

Of the 1,017 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 961 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 30 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,281 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (32%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,351 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,281
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here36
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded1
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded32
Hospitals that filed this code1,351

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 Other diagnostic nervous system procedures family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Needle Electromyography Cranial Nrv Muscle Bi|TECHNICAL 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, “Needle muscle test (EMG) of head muscles, both sides (CPT 95868) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-95868-needle-muscle-test-emg-of-head-muscles-both-sides