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Procedure price report

Guide wire used during a catheter procedure

HCPCS C1769the billing code this page is about

Covers the cost of the thin wire that steers catheters through blood vessels or other passages; this charge is for one wire supply, not the procedure.

Hospitals typically charge $35 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 289 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $44. Most fall between $20 and $121 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
289
States
43
Filings dated
Dec 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 289 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
$10$22$35$88$326

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 33× what the cheapest tenth charges ($10 vs $326).

How the prices are spread

$7 – $12: 17 hospitals$7$12 – $19: 21 hospitals$19 – $31: 77 hospitals$19$31 – $50: 66 hospitals$50 – $82: 17 hospitals$50$82 – $133: 25 hospitals$133 – $217: 12 hospitals$133$217 – $354: 14 hospitals$354 – $578: 7 hospitals$354$578 – $943: 5 hospitals$578median $35price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (261 of 289 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$7$1217
$12$1921
$19$3177
$31$5066
$50$8217
$82$13325
$133$21712
$217$35414
$354$5787
$578$9435

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $35.

Alaska: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceVTNew Hampshire: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $41 across 14 hospitalsMN$41Illinois: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureILWisconsin: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWIMichigan: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMINew York: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNYMassachusetts: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIAIndiana: median $25 across 23 hospitalsIN$25Ohio: median $74 across 12 hospitalsOH$74Pennsylvania: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figurePANew Jersey: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNJConnecticut: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCAUtah: median $23 across 24 hospitalsUT$23Colorado: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceCONebraska: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNEMissouri: median $81 across 10 hospitalsMO$81Kentucky: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceARTennessee: median $129 across 11 hospitalsTN$129North Carolina: median $37 across 11 hospitalsNC$37South Carolina: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureOKLouisiana: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceHITexas: median $33 across 34 hospitalsTX$33Florida: median $38 across 19 hospitalsFL$38
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $35. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Tennessee TN11$129+271%$9 – $319
Missouri MO10$81+133%$14 – $173
Ohio OH12$74+112%$29 – $88
Minnesota MN14$41+19%$7 – $41
Florida FL19$38+8%$10 – $38
North Carolina NC11$37+6%$34 – $99
Texas TX34$33−7%$29 – $35
Indiana IN23$25−27%$19 – $138
Utah UT24$23−34%$20 – $26
Virginia VA9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Jersey NJ8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New York NY8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
California CA7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Pennsylvania PA6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Michigan MI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Illinois IL4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Georgia GA2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oklahoma OK2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wisconsin WI2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Iowa IA1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND1not 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 $35.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care231$35$19 – $121
Children’s10fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access46$40$20 – $87
Ownership
For-profit45$97$26 – $264
Government35$30$10 – $193
Non-profit207$33$20 – $81
System affiliation
Part of a system240$35$20 – $121
Independent49$29$13 – $118

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$63
Median cash price$35
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

205 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $33 and the average of the middle 60% is $35; most fall between $20 and $81.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 205 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
$10$20$33$68$180

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 18× what the cheapest tenth charges ($10 vs $180).

Of the 221 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 205 gave a usable cash price; 2 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 14 a list price only.

How complete is this

289 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 308 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted289
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here4
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 — excluded15
Hospitals that filed this code308

Sections not shown for this setting

  • Against Medicare: Medicare has no separately payable national outpatient (OPPS) rate for this code, so there is nothing honest to compare against.
  • 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.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as HC Cook Tracer Metro Direct Wire Guide.

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, “Guide wire used during a catheter procedure (CPT C1769) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-c1769-guide-wire-used-during-a-catheter-procedure