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Procedure price report · Nonoperative urinary system measurements

Contrast and chain placement for bladder X-ray

CPT 51605the billing code this page is about

Placing contrast dye and a small chain marker in the bladder and urethra before X-rays used to study bladder position and support.

Hospitals typically charge $415 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 285 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $640. Most fall between $65 and $1,366 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
285
States
42
Filings dated
Dec 2024 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 23, 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 285 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
$40$72$415$1,222$1,944

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 48× what the cheapest tenth charges ($40 vs $1,944).

How the prices are spread

$34 – $55: 26 hospitals$34$55 – $90: 40 hospitals$90 – $148: 15 hospitals$90$148 – $241: 27 hospitals$241 – $394: 14 hospitals$241$394 – $645: 25 hospitals$645 – $1,054: 17 hospitals$645$1,054 – $1,722: 78 hospitals$1,722 – $2,815: 8 hospitals$1,722$2,815 – $4,602: 8 hospitals$2,815median $415price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (258 of 285 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$34$5526
$55$9040
$90$14815
$148$24127
$241$39414
$394$64525
$645$1,05417
$1,054$1,72278
$1,722$2,8158
$2,815$4,6028

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $415.

Alaska: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew 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: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $203 across 17 hospitalsIL$203Wisconsin: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWIMichigan: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMINew York: median $128 across 11 hospitalsNY$128Massachusetts: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: median $203 across 14 hospitalsIA$203Indiana: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureINOhio: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureOHPennsylvania: median $28 across 13 hospitalsPA$28New Jersey: median $4,500 across 25 hospitalsNJ$4,500Connecticut: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $1,222 across 43 hospitalsCA$1,222Utah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $1,620 across 10 hospitalsVA$1,620Maryland: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceAZNew Mexico: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSCOklahoma: median $64 across 10 hospitalsOK$64Louisiana: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceGAHawaii: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceHITexas: median $1,143 across 36 hospitalsTX$1,143Florida: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $415. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
New Jersey NJ25$4,500+984%$188 – $5,419
Virginia VA10$1,620+290%$1,514 – $1,620
California CA43$1,222+194%$1,154 – $1,366
Texas TX36$1,143+175%$917 – $1,143
Iowa IA14$203−51%$203 – $203
Illinois IL17$203−51%$30 – $725
New York NY11$128−69%$63 – $523
Oklahoma OK10$64−85%$64 – $64
Pennsylvania PA13$28−93%$24 – $393
Louisiana LA9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Michigan MI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Ohio OH7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Indiana IN3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wisconsin WI1not 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 $415.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care251$417$65 – $1,366
Children’s11fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access21$803$64 – $1,143
Ownership
For-profit24$477$38 – $1,143
Government34$128$67 – $396
Non-profit225$594$65 – $1,366
System affiliation
Part of a system238$586$65 – $1,366
Independent47$156$67 – $720

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$585
Median cash price$415
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

212 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $487 and the average of the middle 60% is $655; most fall between $71 and $1,346.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 212 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
$64$106$487$1,222$1,514

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 24× what the cheapest tenth charges ($64 vs $1,514).

Of the 231 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 212 gave a usable cash price; 9 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 10 a list price only.

How complete is this

285 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 332 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted285
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here17
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded29
Hospitals that filed this code332

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 23, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 23, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Related procedures

Part of the Nonoperative urinary system measurements family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Njx & Placement Chain Contrast&/Urethrocstograpy.

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, “Contrast and chain placement for bladder X-ray (CPT 51605) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-51605-contrast-and-chain-placement-for-bladder-x-ray