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Procedure price report · Magnetic resonance imaging

MRI of the arm, not a joint, without contrast

CPT 73218the billing code this page is about

Magnetic resonance images of a non-joint part of the arm, such as the upper arm or forearm soft tissue and bone, taken without contrast dye.

Hospitals typically charge $1,760 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 3,150 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,799. Most fall between $875 and $3,010 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
3,150
States
50
Filings dated
Aug 2022 – 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 3,150 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
$558$1,003$1,760$2,704$4,196

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.5× what the cheapest tenth charges ($558 vs $4,196).

How the prices are spread

$328 – $442: 51 hospitals$328$442 – $595: 162 hospitals$595 – $800: 183 hospitals$595$800 – $1,077: 312 hospitals$1,077 – $1,451: 413 hospitals$1,077$1,451 – $1,953: 493 hospitals$1,953 – $2,629: 538 hospitals$1,953$2,629 – $3,539: 401 hospitals$3,539 – $4,764: 186 hospitals$3,539$4,764 – $6,413: 97 hospitals$4,764median $1,760price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,836 of 3,150 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$328$44251
$442$595162
$595$800183
$800$1,077312
$1,077$1,451413
$1,451$1,953493
$1,953$2,629538
$2,629$3,539401
$3,539$4,764186
$4,764$6,41397

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$244
Median cash price$1,760
Cash as a multiple of Medicare7.2×

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 $1,760.

Alaska: median $2,828 across 14 hospitalsAK$2,828Maine: median $1,124 across 24 hospitalsME$1,124Vermont: median $2,972 across 11 hospitalsVT$2,972New Hampshire: median $1,821 across 22 hospitalsNH$1,821Washington: median $1,403 across 63 hospitalsWA$1,403Idaho: median $1,633 across 22 hospitalsID$1,633Montana: median $1,607 across 16 hospitalsMT$1,607North Dakota: median $2,463 across 26 hospitalsND$2,463Minnesota: median $1,898 across 97 hospitalsMN$1,898Illinois: median $2,677 across 135 hospitalsIL$2,677Wisconsin: median $2,110 across 106 hospitalsWI$2,110Michigan: median $1,628 across 81 hospitalsMI$1,628New York: median $1,055 across 98 hospitalsNY$1,055Massachusetts: median $2,127 across 46 hospitalsMA$2,127Oregon: median $1,770 across 45 hospitalsOR$1,770Nevada: median $1,924 across 18 hospitalsNV$1,924Wyoming: median $1,488 across 12 hospitalsWY$1,488South Dakota: median $3,069 across 26 hospitalsSD$3,069Iowa: median $2,187 across 85 hospitalsIA$2,187Indiana: median $990 across 94 hospitalsIN$990Ohio: median $1,631 across 126 hospitalsOH$1,631Pennsylvania: median $1,656 across 116 hospitalsPA$1,656New Jersey: median $327 across 45 hospitalsNJ$327Connecticut: median $1,229 across 22 hospitalsCT$1,229Rhode Island: median $1,381 across 10 hospitalsRI$1,381California: median $2,704 across 187 hospitalsCA$2,704Utah: median $2,547 across 41 hospitalsUT$2,547Colorado: median $1,598 across 64 hospitalsCO$1,598Nebraska: median $2,558 across 81 hospitalsNE$2,558Missouri: median $1,609 across 76 hospitalsMO$1,609Kentucky: median $1,740 across 66 hospitalsKY$1,740West Virginia: median $1,352 across 40 hospitalsWV$1,352Virginia: median $1,921 across 71 hospitalsVA$1,921Maryland: median $943 across 36 hospitalsMD$943Delaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $1,206 across 47 hospitalsAZ$1,206New Mexico: median $1,291 across 30 hospitalsNM$1,291Kansas: median $1,298 across 81 hospitalsKS$1,298Arkansas: median $729 across 31 hospitalsAR$729Tennessee: median $787 across 78 hospitalsTN$787North Carolina: median $1,715 across 86 hospitalsNC$1,715South Carolina: median $2,126 across 51 hospitalsSC$2,126Oklahoma: median $1,060 across 61 hospitalsOK$1,060Louisiana: median $894 across 53 hospitalsLA$894Mississippi: median $999 across 49 hospitalsMS$999Alabama: median $1,404 across 38 hospitalsAL$1,404Georgia: median $1,417 across 102 hospitalsGA$1,417Hawaii: median $1,509 across 14 hospitalsHI$1,509Texas: median $2,074 across 230 hospitalsTX$2,074Florida: median $2,776 across 171 hospitalsFL$2,776
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,760. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
South Dakota SD26$3,069+74%$2,830 – $4,470
Vermont VT11$2,972+69%$1,766 – $4,329
Alaska AK14$2,828+61%$2,111 – $3,961
Florida FL171$2,776+58%$1,355 – $7,556
California CA187$2,704+54%$1,311 – $4,196
Illinois IL135$2,677+52%$1,206 – $3,675
Nebraska NE81$2,558+45%$1,651 – $3,188
Utah UT41$2,547+45%$1,956 – $2,997
North Dakota ND26$2,463+40%$2,176 – $2,976
Iowa IA85$2,187+24%$1,347 – $2,730
Massachusetts MA46$2,127+21%$918 – $2,945
South Carolina SC51$2,126+21%$1,156 – $3,584
Wisconsin WI106$2,110+20%$1,368 – $2,490
Texas TX230$2,074+18%$895 – $3,949
Nevada NV18$1,924+9%$899 – $2,580
Virginia VA71$1,921+9%$914 – $3,509
Minnesota MN97$1,898+8%$873 – $2,772
New Hampshire NH22$1,821+3%$1,251 – $4,467
Oregon OR45$1,770+1%$1,301 – $2,189
Kentucky KY66$1,740−1%$971 – $2,956
North Carolina NC86$1,715−3%$1,111 – $2,290
Pennsylvania PA116$1,656−6%$464 – $3,762
Idaho ID22$1,633−7%$1,410 – $1,945
Ohio OH126$1,631−7%$1,058 – $2,127
Michigan MI81$1,628−8%$998 – $3,365
Missouri MO76$1,609−9%$1,075 – $2,380
Montana MT16$1,607−9%$1,331 – $2,315
Colorado CO64$1,598−9%$1,049 – $2,710
Hawaii HI14$1,509−14%$1,150 – $2,032
Wyoming WY12$1,488−15%$617 – $2,429
Georgia GA102$1,417−20%$663 – $2,616
Alabama AL38$1,404−20%$859 – $3,408
Washington WA63$1,403−20%$1,084 – $2,288
Rhode Island RI10$1,381−22%$556 – $1,400
West Virginia WV40$1,352−23%$1,015 – $2,285
Kansas KS81$1,298−26%$744 – $2,163
New Mexico NM30$1,291−27%$1,022 – $2,220
Connecticut CT22$1,229−30%$834 – $2,882
Arizona AZ47$1,206−32%$327 – $5,003
Maine ME24$1,124−36%$515 – $2,181
Oklahoma OK61$1,060−40%$696 – $1,853
New York NY98$1,055−40%$358 – $2,732
Mississippi MS49$999−43%$665 – $1,456
Indiana IN94$990−44%$583 – $2,363
Maryland MD36$943−46%$640 – $1,438
Louisiana LA53$894−49%$515 – $1,665
Tennessee TN78$787−55%$496 – $1,848
Arkansas AR31$729−59%$584 – $887
New Jersey NJ45$327−81%$276 – $1,318
Delaware DE6not 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 $1,760.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,257$1,656$808 – $3,176
Children’s63$2,345$1,498 – $3,499
Critical access820$1,920$1,041 – $2,770
Ownership
For-profit468$2,344$954 – $7,584
Government572$1,652$817 – $2,590
Non-profit2,100$1,740$884 – $2,882
System affiliation
Part of a system2,583$1,797$899 – $3,136
Independent567$1,624$778 – $2,665

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,910
Median cash price$1,760
Cash as a share of list, median hospital65%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 35%. 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

2,154 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,810 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,837; most fall between $957 and $2,961.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,154 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
$617$1,070$1,810$2,704$3,841

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.2× what the cheapest tenth charges ($617 vs $3,841).

Of the 2,386 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,154 gave a usable cash price; 128 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 104 a list price only.

How complete is this

3,150 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (80%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,506 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted3,150
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here223
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded5
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded128
Hospitals that filed this code3,506

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 Magnetic resonance imaging family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as MRI Upper Extremity Oth Than Jt W/O Contr Matrl.

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, “MRI of the arm, not a joint, without contrast (CPT 73218) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-73218-mri-of-the-arm-not-a-joint-without-contrast