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Procedure price report · Other diagnostic ultrasound or optical coherence tomography (OCT)

Ultrasound of the chest

CPT 76604the billing code this page is about

A real-time ultrasound of the chest, including the space between the lungs and the lung lining, with images saved.

Hospitals typically charge $388 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 3,245 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $398. Most fall between $183 and $686 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
3,245
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 3,245 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
$124$214$388$611$992

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.0× what the cheapest tenth charges ($124 vs $992).

How the prices are spread

$98 – $127: 196 hospitals$98$127 – $166: 189 hospitals$166 – $216: 283 hospitals$166$216 – $281: 294 hospitals$281 – $366: 426 hospitals$281$366 – $477: 484 hospitals$477 – $622: 436 hospitals$477$622 – $811: 302 hospitals$811 – $1,057: 197 hospitals$811$1,057 – $1,377: 122 hospitals$1,057median $388price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,929 of 3,245 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$98$127196
$127$166189
$166$216283
$216$281294
$281$366426
$366$477484
$477$622436
$622$811302
$811$1,057197
$1,057$1,377122

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$107
Median cash price$388
Cash as a multiple of Medicare3.6×

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 $388.

Alaska: median $466 across 16 hospitalsAK$466Maine: median $236 across 25 hospitalsME$236Vermont: median $605 across 12 hospitalsVT$605New Hampshire: median $396 across 22 hospitalsNH$396Washington: median $387 across 69 hospitalsWA$387Idaho: median $404 across 20 hospitalsID$404Montana: median $297 across 16 hospitalsMT$297North Dakota: median $315 across 27 hospitalsND$315Minnesota: median $286 across 96 hospitalsMN$286Illinois: median $518 across 126 hospitalsIL$518Wisconsin: median $347 across 108 hospitalsWI$347Michigan: median $299 across 85 hospitalsMI$299New York: median $284 across 101 hospitalsNY$284Massachusetts: median $363 across 52 hospitalsMA$363Oregon: median $287 across 46 hospitalsOR$287Nevada: median $342 across 19 hospitalsNV$342Wyoming: median $445 across 13 hospitalsWY$445South Dakota: median $737 across 34 hospitalsSD$737Iowa: median $423 across 81 hospitalsIA$423Indiana: median $257 across 94 hospitalsIN$257Ohio: median $477 across 138 hospitalsOH$477Pennsylvania: median $389 across 117 hospitalsPA$389New Jersey: median $147 across 57 hospitalsNJ$147Connecticut: median $159 across 20 hospitalsCT$159Rhode Island: median $432 across 10 hospitalsRI$432California: median $650 across 214 hospitalsCA$650Utah: median $452 across 39 hospitalsUT$452Colorado: median $441 across 60 hospitalsCO$441Nebraska: median $503 across 76 hospitalsNE$503Missouri: median $402 across 76 hospitalsMO$402Kentucky: median $439 across 64 hospitalsKY$439West Virginia: median $291 across 39 hospitalsWV$291Virginia: median $389 across 71 hospitalsVA$389Maryland: median $542 across 39 hospitalsMD$542Delaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $290 across 52 hospitalsAZ$290New Mexico: median $353 across 27 hospitalsNM$353Kansas: median $302 across 81 hospitalsKS$302Arkansas: median $151 across 37 hospitalsAR$151Tennessee: median $214 across 78 hospitalsTN$214North Carolina: median $300 across 92 hospitalsNC$300South Carolina: median $425 across 52 hospitalsSC$425Oklahoma: median $265 across 64 hospitalsOK$265Louisiana: median $225 across 50 hospitalsLA$225Mississippi: median $143 across 50 hospitalsMS$143Alabama: median $249 across 42 hospitalsAL$249Georgia: median $299 across 105 hospitalsGA$299Hawaii: median $402 across 18 hospitalsHI$402Texas: median $485 across 237 hospitalsTX$485Florida: median $648 across 172 hospitalsFL$648
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $388. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
South Dakota SD34$737+90%$560 – $849
California CA214$650+68%$343 – $1,095
Florida FL172$648+67%$324 – $1,774
Vermont VT12$605+56%$71 – $1,059
Maryland MD39$542+40%$363 – $696
Illinois IL126$518+33%$241 – $876
Nebraska NE76$503+30%$276 – $657
Texas TX237$485+25%$219 – $1,097
Ohio OH138$477+23%$275 – $694
Alaska AK16$466+20%$227 – $798
Utah UT39$452+17%$299 – $532
Wyoming WY13$445+15%$125 – $522
Colorado CO60$441+14%$286 – $664
Kentucky KY64$439+13%$256 – $943
Rhode Island RI10$432+11%$116 – $444
South Carolina SC52$425+10%$327 – $804
Iowa IA81$423+9%$288 – $594
Idaho ID20$404+4%$242 – $441
Hawaii HI18$402+4%$232 – $460
Missouri MO76$402+4%$236 – $610
New Hampshire NH22$396+2%$273 – $831
Virginia VA71$3890%$283 – $869
Pennsylvania PA117$3890%$146 – $868
Washington WA69$3870%$238 – $569
Massachusetts MA52$363−6%$220 – $624
New Mexico NM27$353−9%$260 – $506
Wisconsin WI108$347−11%$186 – $525
Nevada NV19$342−12%$214 – $840
North Dakota ND27$315−19%$198 – $498
Kansas KS81$302−22%$149 – $493
North Carolina NC92$300−23%$215 – $528
Michigan MI85$299−23%$145 – $482
Georgia GA105$299−23%$143 – $627
Montana MT16$297−24%$185 – $530
West Virginia WV39$291−25%$148 – $404
Arizona AZ52$290−25%$153 – $1,343
Oregon OR46$287−26%$102 – $391
Minnesota MN96$286−26%$178 – $491
New York NY101$284−27%$126 – $603
Oklahoma OK64$265−32%$188 – $478
Indiana IN94$257−34%$122 – $437
Alabama AL42$249−36%$118 – $551
Maine ME25$236−39%$155 – $575
Louisiana LA50$225−42%$104 – $391
Tennessee TN78$214−45%$104 – $372
Connecticut CT20$159−59%$47 – $392
Arkansas AR37$151−61%$115 – $402
New Jersey NJ57$147−62%$118 – $547
Mississippi MS50$143−63%$114 – $279
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 $388.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,328$387$177 – $727
Children’s65$453$292 – $819
Critical access842$386$189 – $596
Ownership
For-profit474$535$226 – $1,612
Government564$328$171 – $564
Non-profit2,197$385$180 – $650
System affiliation
Part of a system2,674$403$186 – $705
Independent571$317$166 – $583

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$647
Median cash price$388
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

2,247 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $404 and the average of the middle 60% is $411; most fall between $195 and $679.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,247 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
$130$229$404$612$925

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.1× what the cheapest tenth charges ($130 vs $925).

Of the 2,485 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,247 gave a usable cash price; 135 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 103 a list price only.

How complete is this

3,245 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (82%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,587 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted3,245
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here221
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded1
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded120
Hospitals that filed this code3,587

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 July 20, 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 Other diagnostic ultrasound or optical coherence tomography (OCT) family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as US Chest Real Time W/Image Documentation|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, “Ultrasound of the chest (CPT 76604) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-76604-ultrasound-of-the-chest