The Most Common Medical Scans in the U.S.

Pricing data was collected directly from price estimators of five hospitals selected to represent the geographic and institutional diversity of U.S. healthcare. Each price is the listed out-of-pocket fee before any uninsured discount or health-plan adjustment.

• Mass General BrighamBoston, MA
• Memorial Hermann TMCHouston, TX
• Billings ClinicBillings, MT
• Cleveland Clinic MainCleveland, OH
• AdventHealth OrlandoOrlando, FL

We chose a subset of procedures for each imaging technique based on frequency of performance and coverage of the technique’s price range.

• X-RayCPT 71046 (chest, 2 views), 72082 (whole spine & skull), 73630 (foot, 3 views)
• CT ScanCPT 70450 (head w/o contrast), 74176 (abdomen & pelvis w/o contrast), 71260 (chest w/ contrast), 71250 (chest w/o contrast)
• UltrasoundCPT 76700 (abdomen complete), 76805 (OB single fetus >14 weeks), 76536 (head & neck/thyroid)
• MRICPT 70553 (brain w/ and w/o contrast), 72148 (lumbar spine w/o contrast), 73721 (lower joint w/o contrast)
• MammographyCPT 77063/77067 (screening), 77061/77062/77066 (diagnostic)
• FluoroscopyCPT 92611 (swallowing evaluation), 76000 (fluoroscope examination), 77002 (needle localization/arthrogram)
• DEXA ScanCPT 77080 (axial skeleton), 77081 (appendicular skeleton)
• SPECT ScanCPT 78452 (myocardial perfusion imaging)
• AngiographyCPT 71275 (CT chest angiography), 70496 (CT head angiography), 75710 (X-ray angiography arm/leg)
• PET ScanCPT 78816 (whole body w/ CT), 78812 (skull base through mid-thigh), 78815 (skull base through mid-thigh w/ CT)

For each imaging type, we averaged procedure prices within each hospital, then averaged those figures across all five hospitals to produce an overall cost estimate.

Several data points were excluded because the price estimator marked them incomplete — missing the hospital or physician fee component:

• Memorial Hermann Ultrasound CPT 76700 · MRI CPT 70553, 72148, 73721 · Mammography CPT 77066 · SPECT CPT 78452
• AdventHealth Orlando MRI CPT 70553 · Angiography CPT 71275, 70496 · PET CPT 78816, 78815