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External Frame With Computer-Guided Adjustment

Massachusetts rates for HCPCS 20696

An external frame is attached to a limb by pins and wires passed through the bone in more than one direction, holding the bone from outside the skin. A computer program then works out a schedule of small daily adjustments to the frame, gradually moving the bone into the correct position over the following weeks. Imaging and the follow-up adjustment calculations are included.

Rates data updated October 2026.

How much does External Frame With Computer-Guided Adjustment cost?

$4,111

Typical total for the visit. In Massachusetts, October 2026.

Insurers have agreed to pay about $4,111 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $1,820 to the doctor who performs it, and $2,291 to the hospital or surgery center where it takes place. Done somewhere without a facility charge, you pay only the first.

These are rates insurers have negotiated with providers, not the amount a patient is billed. What you owe depends on your plan's deductible and coinsurance. Based on rates published by 9 insurance carriers under federal price transparency rules.

What's inside this number

Part of the billTypicalRange
Physician feeThe doctor who performs it$1,820$1,380 to $3,020
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$2,291$1,380 to $6,457

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $2,291 · 10th to 90th $871 to $19,055Professionalmedian $1,820 · 10th to 90th $1,096 to $7,943
$200$1K$5K$20Kfacility $2,291professional $1,820

Distribution of negotiated rates across all payers (price axis is log-scale). Need provider-level prices or 24+ months of history? Contact us.

Rates by insurance carrier

Insurance Carrier
Aetna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$2,089.30
Median
$3,019.95
Typical High
$4,677.35
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,096.48
Median
$1,096.48
Typical High
$3,019.95
AllWays Health Partners
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$691.83
Median
$3,467.37
Typical High
$19,498.45
AllWays Health Partners
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,148.15
Median
$2,818.38
Typical High
$7,943.28
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$758.58
Median
$26,915.35
Typical High
$34,673.69
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,548.82
Median
$1,548.82
Typical High
$3,019.95
Fallon Health
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,148.15
Median
$1,513.56
Typical High
$3,467.37
Fallon Health
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,318.26
Median
$1,513.56
Typical High
$1,778.28
Harvard Pilgrim
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$741.31
Median
$2,818.38
Typical High
$7,762.47
Harvard Pilgrim
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,288.25
Median
$2,344.23
Typical High
$3,548.13
Mass General Brigham
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$691.83
Median
$3,467.37
Typical High
$19,498.45
Mass General Brigham
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,148.15
Median
$2,818.38
Typical High
$7,943.28
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$851.14
Median
$2,818.38
Typical High
$38,018.94
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,230.27
Median
$1,778.28
Typical High
$5,248.07
Well Sense
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$891.25
Median
$1,318.26
Typical High
$10,000.00
Well Sense
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$741.31
Median
$741.31
Typical High
$1,000.00
3 more rates with less common billing modifiers

A modifier changes what was billed, for example a reduced or repeated service. Each of these modifiers carries under 10% of the published rates for this code. Modifier combinations, and modifiers with fewer than 30 rates for a carrier, are not listed.

Insurance Carrier
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$831.76
Median
$831.76
Typical High
$2,238.72
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
78 · Unplanned return to OR
Typical Low
$776.25
Median
$776.25
Typical High
$2,089.30
BCBS Massachusetts
Setting
Professional
Modifier
78 · Unplanned return to OR
Typical Low
$954.99
Median
$1,621.81
Typical High
$2,187.76

Where Massachusetts sits

The same service costs 8.5 times more in Wyoming than in Kentucky. Every bar is a state, most expensive first. Touch or drag across it to read any state, then open that state for its carriers and full range.

Physician feeFacility fee

Massachusetts· 42nd of 51

$4,111

$1,820 physician + $2,291 facility

WY $22,644KY $2,656

Median negotiated rate in each state, from every insurer that publishes one. States where no insurer publishes a rate for this service are not shown.