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External Frame With Computer-Guided Adjustment

Tennessee 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?

$7,303

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

Insurers have agreed to pay about $7,303 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $1,549 to the doctor who performs it, and $5,754 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 5 insurance carriers under federal price transparency rules.

What's inside this number

Part of the billTypicalRange
Physician feeThe doctor who performs it$1,549$1,230 to $2,818
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$5,754$2,455 to $10,233

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $5,754 · 10th to 90th $1,230 to $21,380Professionalmedian $1,549 · 10th to 90th $1,047 to $8,511
$1K$2K$5K$10K$20Kfacility $5,754professional $1,549

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
$1,621.81
Median
$2,818.38
Typical High
$7,585.78
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,047.13
Median
$1,174.90
Typical High
$1,819.70
BCBS Tennessee
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,288.25
Median
$8,317.64
Typical High
$21,379.62
BCBS Tennessee
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,202.26
Median
$1,778.28
Typical High
$2,818.38
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,122.02
Median
$18,620.87
Typical High
$38,904.51
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,071.52
Median
$1,412.54
Typical High
$1,995.26
Lucent Health
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$8,511.38
Median
$8,511.38
Typical High
$9,120.11
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,202.26
Median
$3,801.89
Typical High
$6,760.83
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$954.99
Median
$1,258.93
Typical High
$2,398.83
2 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
$776.25
Median
$812.83
Typical High
$1,122.02
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
78 · Unplanned return to OR
Typical Low
$724.44
Median
$758.58
Typical High
$1,047.13

Where Tennessee 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

Tennessee· 18th of 51

$7,303

$1,549 physician + $5,754 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.