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Procedure price report · Radioisotope scan and function studies

Nuclear scan of the liver, bile ducts and gallbladder

CPT 78226the billing code this page is about

A nuclear medicine scan that follows an injected radioactive tracer through the liver, bile ducts and gallbladder to show how bile drains.

Hospitals typically charge $1,305 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,863 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,326. Most fall between $650 and $2,082 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,863
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 2,863 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
$456$758$1,305$1,920$3,145

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.9× what the cheapest tenth charges ($456 vs $3,145).

How the prices are spread

$360 – $462: 151 hospitals$360$462 – $595: 188 hospitals$595 – $765: 258 hospitals$595$765 – $983: 268 hospitals$983 – $1,264: 361 hospitals$983$1,264 – $1,625: 462 hospitals$1,625 – $2,090: 464 hospitals$1,625$2,090 – $2,687: 191 hospitals$2,687 – $3,455: 138 hospitals$2,687$3,455 – $4,442: 100 hospitals$3,455median $1,305price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,581 of 2,863 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$360$462151
$462$595188
$595$765258
$765$983268
$983$1,264361
$1,264$1,625462
$1,625$2,090464
$2,090$2,687191
$2,687$3,455138
$3,455$4,442100

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$408
Median cash price$1,305
Cash as a multiple of Medicare3.2×

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 $1,305.

Alaska: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $669 across 22 hospitalsME$669Vermont: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $1,541 across 18 hospitalsNH$1,541Washington: median $1,118 across 51 hospitalsWA$1,118Idaho: median $1,425 across 15 hospitalsID$1,425Montana: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: median $1,438 across 21 hospitalsND$1,438Minnesota: median $1,162 across 85 hospitalsMN$1,162Illinois: median $1,513 across 118 hospitalsIL$1,513Wisconsin: median $1,274 across 96 hospitalsWI$1,274Michigan: median $935 across 78 hospitalsMI$935New York: median $1,002 across 94 hospitalsNY$1,002Massachusetts: median $1,485 across 44 hospitalsMA$1,485Oregon: median $1,320 across 38 hospitalsOR$1,320Nevada: median $1,369 across 14 hospitalsNV$1,369Wyoming: median $1,201 across 12 hospitalsWY$1,201South Dakota: median $2,025 across 23 hospitalsSD$2,025Iowa: median $1,202 across 66 hospitalsIA$1,202Indiana: median $1,197 across 84 hospitalsIN$1,197Ohio: median $1,548 across 135 hospitalsOH$1,548Pennsylvania: median $1,096 across 111 hospitalsPA$1,096New Jersey: median $517 across 56 hospitalsNJ$517Connecticut: median $1,000 across 19 hospitalsCT$1,000Rhode Island: median $622 across 10 hospitalsRI$622California: median $1,792 across 202 hospitalsCA$1,792Utah: median $1,624 across 36 hospitalsUT$1,624Colorado: median $1,890 across 57 hospitalsCO$1,890Nebraska: median $1,695 across 69 hospitalsNE$1,695Missouri: median $1,067 across 68 hospitalsMO$1,067Kentucky: median $1,133 across 59 hospitalsKY$1,133West Virginia: median $861 across 33 hospitalsWV$861Virginia: median $1,122 across 70 hospitalsVA$1,122Maryland: median $1,790 across 37 hospitalsMD$1,790Delaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $1,028 across 45 hospitalsAZ$1,028New Mexico: median $825 across 20 hospitalsNM$825Kansas: median $880 across 46 hospitalsKS$880Arkansas: median $564 across 25 hospitalsAR$564Tennessee: median $650 across 77 hospitalsTN$650North Carolina: median $1,439 across 86 hospitalsNC$1,439South Carolina: median $1,408 across 50 hospitalsSC$1,408Oklahoma: median $1,153 across 42 hospitalsOK$1,153Louisiana: median $659 across 49 hospitalsLA$659Mississippi: median $524 across 42 hospitalsMS$524Alabama: median $868 across 36 hospitalsAL$868Georgia: median $1,280 across 91 hospitalsGA$1,280Hawaii: median $798 across 11 hospitalsHI$798Texas: median $1,603 across 203 hospitalsTX$1,603Florida: median $2,038 across 169 hospitalsFL$2,038
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,305. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Florida FL169$2,038+56%$1,001 – $6,514
South Dakota SD23$2,025+55%$1,758 – $2,458
Colorado CO57$1,890+45%$967 – $2,918
California CA202$1,792+37%$862 – $3,373
Maryland MD37$1,790+37%$1,201 – $2,169
Nebraska NE69$1,695+30%$1,194 – $2,162
Utah UT36$1,624+24%$1,624 – $1,927
Texas TX203$1,603+23%$897 – $3,133
Ohio OH135$1,548+19%$969 – $2,057
New Hampshire NH18$1,541+18%$1,161 – $2,665
Illinois IL118$1,513+16%$777 – $2,611
Massachusetts MA44$1,485+14%$918 – $1,891
North Carolina NC86$1,439+10%$756 – $1,849
North Dakota ND21$1,438+10%$1,047 – $1,830
Idaho ID15$1,425+9%$1,035 – $1,488
South Carolina SC50$1,408+8%$956 – $2,237
Nevada NV14$1,369+5%$434 – $3,812
Oregon OR38$1,320+1%$859 – $1,990
Georgia GA91$1,280−2%$674 – $1,955
Wisconsin WI96$1,274−2%$270 – $1,889
Iowa IA66$1,202−8%$920 – $1,539
Wyoming WY12$1,201−8%$789 – $2,247
Indiana IN84$1,197−8%$486 – $1,920
Minnesota MN85$1,162−11%$573 – $1,771
Oklahoma OK42$1,153−12%$528 – $1,872
Kentucky KY59$1,133−13%$665 – $2,365
Virginia VA70$1,122−14%$749 – $2,568
Washington WA51$1,118−14%$761 – $1,705
Pennsylvania PA111$1,096−16%$577 – $2,619
Missouri MO68$1,067−18%$760 – $1,855
Arizona AZ45$1,028−21%$411 – $3,304
New York NY94$1,002−23%$499 – $1,811
Connecticut CT19$1,000−23%$746 – $1,638
Michigan MI78$935−28%$550 – $1,681
Kansas KS46$880−33%$597 – $1,768
Alabama AL36$868−34%$568 – $2,064
West Virginia WV33$861−34%$603 – $1,521
New Mexico NM20$825−37%$584 – $1,627
Hawaii HI11$798−39%$743 – $1,199
Maine ME22$669−49%$438 – $1,433
Louisiana LA49$659−50%$501 – $1,070
Tennessee TN77$650−50%$443 – $1,178
Rhode Island RI10$622−52%$516 – $1,157
Arkansas AR25$564−57%$389 – $1,235
Mississippi MS42$524−60%$389 – $1,101
New Jersey NJ56$517−60%$439 – $748
Montana MT9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
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 $1,305.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,238$1,304$633 – $2,178
Children’s44$1,847$818 – $2,869
Critical access571$1,268$693 – $1,889
Ownership
For-profit432$1,760$754 – $4,804
Government442$1,127$568 – $1,739
Non-profit1,979$1,298$657 – $1,987
System affiliation
Part of a system2,413$1,346$647 – $2,133
Independent450$1,113$657 – $1,889

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,165
Median cash price$1,305
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

2,012 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,341 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,359; most fall between $721 and $2,038.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,012 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
$511$816$1,341$1,892$2,807

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 5.5× what the cheapest tenth charges ($511 vs $2,807).

Of the 2,210 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,012 gave a usable cash price; 105 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 93 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,863 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (72%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,144 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,863
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here183
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 — excluded97
Hospitals that filed this code3,144

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 Hepatobiliary Syst Imaging Including Gallbladder.

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, “Nuclear scan of the liver, bile ducts and gallbladder (CPT 78226) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-78226-nuclear-scan-of-the-liver-bile-ducts-and-gallbladder