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Procedure price report · Myelogram

Dye X-ray study of the spinal canal in the lower back

CPT 72265the billing code this page is about

Covers the X-ray imaging and interpretation of the lower back and sacral portion of the spinal canal after contrast dye is placed; the injection itself is billed separately.

Hospitals typically charge $1,256 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,675 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,347. Most fall between $718 and $2,475 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,675
States
50
Filings dated
Mar 2023 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 24, 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 1,675 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
$462$806$1,256$2,167$3,750

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.1× what the cheapest tenth charges ($462 vs $3,750).

How the prices are spread

$295 – $392: 34 hospitals$295$392 – $521: 101 hospitals$521 – $692: 92 hospitals$521$692 – $919: 201 hospitals$919 – $1,222: 285 hospitals$919$1,222 – $1,623: 291 hospitals$1,623 – $2,157: 168 hospitals$1,623$2,157 – $2,867: 157 hospitals$2,867 – $3,810: 103 hospitals$2,867$3,810 – $5,063: 77 hospitals$3,810median $1,256price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,509 of 1,675 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$295$39234
$392$521101
$521$69292
$692$919201
$919$1,222285
$1,222$1,623291
$1,623$2,157168
$2,157$2,867157
$2,867$3,810103
$3,810$5,06377

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$801
Median cash price$1,256
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.57×

The Medicare figure is the national unadjusted OPPS rate for this code — what Medicare itself pays a hospital before local wage adjustment. It is a benchmark, not a price anyone is charged.

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $1,256.

Alaska: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $721 across 11 hospitalsNH$721Washington: median $1,347 across 42 hospitalsWA$1,347Idaho: median $1,908 across 13 hospitalsID$1,908Montana: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $344 across 20 hospitalsMN$344Illinois: median $1,115 across 46 hospitalsIL$1,115Wisconsin: median $1,255 across 40 hospitalsWI$1,255Michigan: median $979 across 34 hospitalsMI$979New York: median $1,094 across 70 hospitalsNY$1,094Massachusetts: median $1,895 across 27 hospitalsMA$1,895Oregon: median $1,256 across 19 hospitalsOR$1,256Nevada: median $1,516 across 16 hospitalsNV$1,516Wyoming: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $1,066 across 28 hospitalsIA$1,066Indiana: median $1,091 across 42 hospitalsIN$1,091Ohio: median $970 across 94 hospitalsOH$970Pennsylvania: median $1,451 across 64 hospitalsPA$1,451New Jersey: median $875 across 43 hospitalsNJ$875Connecticut: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $1,773 across 165 hospitalsCA$1,773Utah: median $1,272 across 35 hospitalsUT$1,272Colorado: median $1,130 across 48 hospitalsCO$1,130Nebraska: median $998 across 26 hospitalsNE$998Missouri: median $1,097 across 35 hospitalsMO$1,097Kentucky: median $1,003 across 30 hospitalsKY$1,003West Virginia: median $1,609 across 13 hospitalsWV$1,609Virginia: median $1,011 across 37 hospitalsVA$1,011Maryland: median $124 across 24 hospitalsMD$124Delaware: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $888 across 36 hospitalsAZ$888New Mexico: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $2,646 across 28 hospitalsKS$2,646Arkansas: median $841 across 10 hospitalsAR$841Tennessee: median $854 across 25 hospitalsTN$854North Carolina: median $965 across 43 hospitalsNC$965South Carolina: median $995 across 37 hospitalsSC$995Oklahoma: median $624 across 29 hospitalsOK$624Louisiana: median $720 across 31 hospitalsLA$720Mississippi: median $622 across 17 hospitalsMS$622Alabama: median $986 across 10 hospitalsAL$986Georgia: median $1,104 across 41 hospitalsGA$1,104Hawaii: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $1,351 across 162 hospitalsTX$1,351Florida: median $2,587 across 113 hospitalsFL$2,587
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,256. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Kansas KS28$2,646+111%$1,092 – $4,408
Florida FL113$2,587+106%$1,818 – $8,383
Idaho ID13$1,908+52%$1,272 – $2,773
Massachusetts MA27$1,895+51%$995 – $2,739
California CA165$1,773+41%$816 – $3,273
West Virginia WV13$1,609+28%$1,216 – $2,586
Nevada NV16$1,516+21%$575 – $2,435
Pennsylvania PA64$1,451+16%$829 – $3,447
Texas TX162$1,351+8%$972 – $3,032
Washington WA42$1,347+7%$1,094 – $1,736
Utah UT35$1,272+1%$1,081 – $1,272
Oregon OR19$1,2560%$709 – $2,356
Wisconsin WI40$1,2550%$675 – $1,582
Colorado CO48$1,130−10%$756 – $3,137
Illinois IL46$1,115−11%$598 – $1,961
Georgia GA41$1,104−12%$712 – $1,568
Missouri MO35$1,097−13%$628 – $2,119
New York NY70$1,094−13%$801 – $2,475
Indiana IN42$1,091−13%$922 – $1,424
Iowa IA28$1,066−15%$600 – $1,584
Virginia VA37$1,011−19%$785 – $1,539
Kentucky KY30$1,003−20%$483 – $4,219
Nebraska NE26$998−21%$471 – $1,420
South Carolina SC37$995−21%$981 – $2,410
Alabama AL10$986−21%$477 – $1,102
Michigan MI34$979−22%$750 – $1,505
Ohio OH94$970−23%$814 – $1,924
North Carolina NC43$965−23%$462 – $1,236
Arizona AZ36$888−29%$519 – $3,324
New Jersey NJ43$875−30%$408 – $2,286
Tennessee TN25$854−32%$310 – $1,885
Arkansas AR10$841−33%$298 – $1,165
New Hampshire NH11$721−43%$557 – $2,067
Louisiana LA31$720−43%$306 – $1,123
Oklahoma OK29$624−50%$67 – $1,611
Mississippi MS17$622−51%$452 – $1,039
Minnesota MN20$344−73%$266 – $1,215
Maryland MD24$124−90%$82 – $1,346
Rhode Island RI9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE2not 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 $1,256.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,409$1,272$731 – $2,610
Children’s39$1,501$729 – $2,379
Critical access218$1,191$598 – $1,868
Ownership
For-profit262$1,945$949 – $5,585
Government207$1,118$673 – $2,034
Non-profit1,197$1,227$692 – $2,348
System affiliation
Part of a system1,434$1,272$729 – $2,587
Independent241$1,191$660 – $2,188

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,170
Median cash price$1,256
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

1,179 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,306 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,377; most fall between $720 and $2,419.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,179 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
$450$826$1,306$2,023$3,324

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.4× what the cheapest tenth charges ($450 vs $3,324).

Of the 1,314 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,179 gave a usable cash price; 68 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 67 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,675 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (42%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,872 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,675
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here126
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 — excluded71
Hospitals that filed this code1,872

Sections not shown for this setting

  • 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 24, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 24, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Related procedures

Part of the Myelogram family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Myelograpy Lumbosacral Rs&I|PROFESSIONAL COMPONENT.

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, “Dye X-ray study of the spinal canal in the lower back (CPT 72265) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-72265-dye-x-ray-study-of-the-spinal-canal-in-the-lower-back