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Procedure price report · Radioisotope scan and function studies

Whole-body scan for spread of thyroid cancer

CPT 78018the billing code this page is about

Nuclear medicine imaging of the entire body after a radioactive tracer is given, to look for thyroid cancer that has spread beyond the neck.

Hospitals typically charge $1,425 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,102 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,485. Most fall between $761 and $2,442 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,102
States
50
Filings dated
Jan 2024 – 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 2,102 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
$560$892$1,425$2,226$3,600

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.4× what the cheapest tenth charges ($560 vs $3,600).

How the prices are spread

$430 – $555: 99 hospitals$430$555 – $716: 173 hospitals$716 – $923: 185 hospitals$716$923 – $1,190: 250 hospitals$1,190 – $1,535: 323 hospitals$1,190$1,535 – $1,980: 327 hospitals$1,980 – $2,553: 257 hospitals$1,980$2,553 – $3,292: 141 hospitals$3,292 – $4,246: 84 hospitals$3,292$4,246 – $5,476: 57 hospitals$4,246median $1,425price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,896 of 2,102 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$430$55599
$555$716173
$716$923185
$923$1,190250
$1,190$1,535323
$1,535$1,980327
$1,980$2,553257
$2,553$3,292141
$3,292$4,24684
$4,246$5,47657

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$555
Median cash price$1,425
Cash as a multiple of Medicare2.6×

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 $1,425.

Alaska: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $1,186 across 10 hospitalsNH$1,186Washington: median $1,380 across 44 hospitalsWA$1,380Idaho: median $1,761 across 13 hospitalsID$1,761Montana: 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 $595 across 38 hospitalsMN$595Illinois: median $1,510 across 80 hospitalsIL$1,510Wisconsin: median $1,558 across 78 hospitalsWI$1,558Michigan: median $937 across 57 hospitalsMI$937New York: median $1,010 across 79 hospitalsNY$1,010Massachusetts: median $1,550 across 33 hospitalsMA$1,550Oregon: median $1,385 across 32 hospitalsOR$1,385Nevada: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: median $2,563 across 10 hospitalsSD$2,563Iowa: median $1,193 across 29 hospitalsIA$1,193Indiana: median $1,583 across 67 hospitalsIN$1,583Ohio: median $1,892 across 98 hospitalsOH$1,892Pennsylvania: median $1,420 across 89 hospitalsPA$1,420New Jersey: median $703 across 54 hospitalsNJ$703Connecticut: median $1,084 across 14 hospitalsCT$1,084Rhode Island: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $2,041 across 175 hospitalsCA$2,041Utah: median $1,779 across 30 hospitalsUT$1,779Colorado: median $2,279 across 48 hospitalsCO$2,279Nebraska: median $1,496 across 24 hospitalsNE$1,496Missouri: median $1,517 across 47 hospitalsMO$1,517Kentucky: median $1,731 across 35 hospitalsKY$1,731West Virginia: median $1,323 across 14 hospitalsWV$1,323Virginia: median $1,428 across 48 hospitalsVA$1,428Maryland: median $1,644 across 34 hospitalsMD$1,644Delaware: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $1,097 across 39 hospitalsAZ$1,097New Mexico: median $1,129 across 14 hospitalsNM$1,129Kansas: median $1,419 across 25 hospitalsKS$1,419Arkansas: median $617 across 14 hospitalsAR$617Tennessee: median $718 across 55 hospitalsTN$718North Carolina: median $1,364 across 67 hospitalsNC$1,364South Carolina: median $1,301 across 46 hospitalsSC$1,301Oklahoma: median $902 across 29 hospitalsOK$902Louisiana: median $637 across 38 hospitalsLA$637Mississippi: median $728 across 29 hospitalsMS$728Alabama: median $986 across 26 hospitalsAL$986Georgia: median $1,249 across 72 hospitalsGA$1,249Hawaii: median $1,335 across 11 hospitalsHI$1,335Texas: median $1,270 across 165 hospitalsTX$1,270Florida: median $2,154 across 139 hospitalsFL$2,154
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,425. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
South Dakota SD10$2,563+80%$1,924 – $2,563
Colorado CO48$2,279+60%$1,229 – $5,662
Florida FL139$2,154+51%$1,234 – $7,110
California CA175$2,041+43%$1,001 – $3,913
Ohio OH98$1,892+33%$1,193 – $2,414
Utah UT30$1,779+25%$1,199 – $2,092
Idaho ID13$1,761+24%$1,380 – $1,779
Kentucky KY35$1,731+21%$657 – $3,244
Maryland MD34$1,644+15%$854 – $2,429
Indiana IN67$1,583+11%$972 – $2,161
Wisconsin WI78$1,558+9%$312 – $1,936
Massachusetts MA33$1,550+9%$1,008 – $1,873
Missouri MO47$1,517+6%$775 – $2,073
Illinois IL80$1,510+6%$908 – $2,763
Nebraska NE24$1,496+5%$904 – $1,908
Virginia VA48$1,4280%$865 – $1,914
Pennsylvania PA89$1,4200%$643 – $3,682
Kansas KS25$1,4190%$673 – $4,709
Oregon OR32$1,385−3%$1,080 – $1,980
Washington WA44$1,380−3%$1,059 – $1,958
North Carolina NC67$1,364−4%$1,024 – $1,870
Hawaii HI11$1,335−6%$979 – $1,477
West Virginia WV14$1,323−7%$657 – $2,007
South Carolina SC46$1,301−9%$1,228 – $2,017
Texas TX165$1,270−11%$816 – $2,990
Georgia GA72$1,249−12%$963 – $2,368
Iowa IA29$1,193−16%$785 – $1,740
New Hampshire NH10$1,186−17%$814 – $2,800
New Mexico NM14$1,129−21%$877 – $1,859
Arizona AZ39$1,097−23%$561 – $4,096
Connecticut CT14$1,084−24%$849 – $1,808
New York NY79$1,010−29%$637 – $2,720
Alabama AL26$986−31%$775 – $2,756
Michigan MI57$937−34%$715 – $1,546
Oklahoma OK29$902−37%$535 – $1,759
Mississippi MS29$728−49%$434 – $1,068
Tennessee TN55$718−50%$452 – $1,637
New Jersey NJ54$703−51%$596 – $1,623
Louisiana LA38$637−55%$426 – $1,138
Arkansas AR14$617−57%$514 – $1,355
Minnesota MN38$595−58%$290 – $1,227
Maine ME8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT2not 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 $1,425.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,847$1,425$747 – $2,429
Children’s42$2,232$1,247 – $3,215
Critical access203$1,351$718 – $2,161
Ownership
For-profit308$1,853$938 – $6,199
Government252$1,111$685 – $2,054
Non-profit1,532$1,419$747 – $2,370
System affiliation
Part of a system1,823$1,459$785 – $2,472
Independent279$1,330$691 – $2,368

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,640
Median cash price$1,425
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

1,542 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,502 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,547; most fall between $854 and $2,414.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,542 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
$595$973$1,502$2,177$3,216

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 5.4× what the cheapest tenth charges ($595 vs $3,216).

Of the 1,692 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,542 gave a usable cash price; 78 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 72 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,102 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (53%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 2,316 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,102
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here133
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 — excluded80
Hospitals that filed this code2,316

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 PR Thyroid Carcinoma Metastases Img Whole Body.

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, “Whole-body scan for spread of thyroid cancer (CPT 78018) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-78018-whole-body-scan-for-spread-of-thyroid-cancer