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Procedure price report · Radioisotope scan and function studies

Dye X-ray study of neck or mid-back spinal discs

CPT 72285the billing code this page is about

Covers the X-ray imaging and interpretation after contrast dye is injected into one or more discs of the neck or chest-level spine; the disc puncture is billed separately.

Hospitals typically charge $2,667 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,055 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,876. Most fall between $1,367 and $5,282 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,055
States
49
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 1,055 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
$768$1,726$2,667$4,397$7,309

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.5× what the cheapest tenth charges ($768 vs $7,309).

How the prices are spread

$455 – $623: 25 hospitals$455$623 – $852: 41 hospitals$852 – $1,165: 56 hospitals$852$1,165 – $1,593: 62 hospitals$1,593 – $2,178: 173 hospitals$1,593$2,178 – $2,979: 170 hospitals$2,979 – $4,074: 165 hospitals$2,979$4,074 – $5,572: 142 hospitals$5,572 – $7,620: 67 hospitals$5,572$7,620 – $10,421: 55 hospitals$7,620median $2,667price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (956 of 1,055 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$455$62325
$623$85241
$852$1,16556
$1,165$1,59362
$1,593$2,178173
$2,178$2,979170
$2,979$4,074165
$4,074$5,572142
$5,572$7,62067
$7,620$10,42155

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$1,995
Median cash price$2,667
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.34×

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 $2,667.

Alaska: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNHWashington: median $3,660 across 29 hospitalsWA$3,660Idaho: median $4,696 across 10 hospitalsID$4,696Montana: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $3,253 across 39 hospitalsIL$3,253Wisconsin: median $2,510 across 41 hospitalsWI$2,510Michigan: median $2,087 across 18 hospitalsMI$2,087New York: median $2,311 across 50 hospitalsNY$2,311Massachusetts: median $3,707 across 14 hospitalsMA$3,707Oregon: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $147 across 15 hospitalsIA$147Indiana: median $2,571 across 33 hospitalsIN$2,571Ohio: median $2,646 across 69 hospitalsOH$2,646Pennsylvania: median $3,143 across 53 hospitalsPA$3,143New Jersey: median $2,161 across 32 hospitalsNJ$2,161Connecticut: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $4,274 across 105 hospitalsCA$4,274Utah: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $3,372 across 29 hospitalsCO$3,372Nebraska: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: median $3,654 across 17 hospitalsMO$3,654Kentucky: median $4,211 across 24 hospitalsKY$4,211West Virginia: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $1,954 across 32 hospitalsVA$1,954Maryland: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $1,056 across 17 hospitalsAZ$1,056New Mexico: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $2,346 across 15 hospitalsKS$2,346Arkansas: median $1,546 across 12 hospitalsAR$1,546Tennessee: median $1,160 across 21 hospitalsTN$1,160North Carolina: median $1,861 across 25 hospitalsNC$1,861South Carolina: median $2,281 across 16 hospitalsSC$2,281Oklahoma: median $1,577 across 19 hospitalsOK$1,577Louisiana: median $1,204 across 20 hospitalsLA$1,204Mississippi: median $1,094 across 10 hospitalsMS$1,094Alabama: median $3,424 across 11 hospitalsAL$3,424Georgia: median $2,285 across 33 hospitalsGA$2,285Hawaii: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $3,274 across 97 hospitalsTX$3,274Florida: median $3,084 across 70 hospitalsFL$3,084
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $2,667. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Idaho ID10$4,696+76%$2,264 – $7,978
California CA105$4,274+60%$2,495 – $5,342
Kentucky KY24$4,211+58%$1,204 – $7,841
Massachusetts MA14$3,707+39%$2,351 – $8,786
Washington WA29$3,660+37%$2,191 – $4,517
Missouri MO17$3,654+37%$3,407 – $5,414
Alabama AL11$3,424+28%$1,908 – $6,077
Colorado CO29$3,372+26%$2,632 – $7,309
Texas TX97$3,274+23%$1,952 – $7,677
Illinois IL39$3,253+22%$1,061 – $4,476
Pennsylvania PA53$3,143+18%$1,996 – $7,158
Florida FL70$3,084+16%$1,785 – $7,811
Ohio OH69$2,646−1%$1,360 – $3,826
Indiana IN33$2,571−4%$1,228 – $4,134
Wisconsin WI41$2,510−6%$1,940 – $3,573
Kansas KS15$2,346−12%$1,219 – $3,351
New York NY50$2,311−13%$678 – $4,290
Georgia GA33$2,285−14%$1,922 – $10,421
South Carolina SC16$2,281−14%$1,389 – $3,800
New Jersey NJ32$2,161−19%$702 – $8,132
Michigan MI18$2,087−22%$1,136 – $2,690
Virginia VA32$1,954−27%$1,209 – $2,344
North Carolina NC25$1,861−30%$1,115 – $2,009
Oklahoma OK19$1,577−41%$181 – $2,549
Arkansas AR12$1,546−42%$857 – $3,999
Louisiana LA20$1,204−55%$506 – $2,541
Tennessee TN21$1,160−57%$898 – $5,181
Mississippi MS10$1,094−59%$625 – $1,669
Arizona AZ17$1,056−60%$835 – $2,298
Iowa IA15$147−94%$147 – $3,165
Hawaii HI9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT1not 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 $2,667.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care952$2,646$1,367 – $5,291
Children’s14fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access86$3,022$1,275 – $4,820
Ownership
For-profit167$3,599$1,900 – $8,024
Government130$2,311$910 – $4,565
Non-profit755$2,652$1,360 – $4,517
System affiliation
Part of a system916$2,691$1,425 – $5,342
Independent139$2,396$1,034 – $4,394

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$4,476
Median cash price$2,667
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

772 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $2,809 and the average of the middle 60% is $3,016; most fall between $1,360 and $5,342.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 772 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
$866$1,718$2,809$4,568$7,160

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.3× what the cheapest tenth charges ($866 vs $7,160).

Of the 888 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 772 gave a usable cash price; 79 carried a plausibility flag, 2 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 35 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,055 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (27%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,228 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,055
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here127
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded2
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded44
Hospitals that filed this code1,228

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 Radioisotope scan and function studies family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Diskograpy Cervical/Thoracic 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 neck or mid-back spinal discs (CPT 72285) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-72285-dye-x-ray-study-of-neck-or-mid-back-spinal-discs