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Procedure price report · Radioisotope scan and function studies

Stomach emptying nuclear scan

CPT 78264the billing code this page is about

A nuclear medicine study that measures how quickly a radioactively labeled meal leaves the stomach.

Hospitals typically charge $1,290 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,905 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,308. Most fall between $666 and $2,158 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,905
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 2,905 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
$471$776$1,290$1,927$3,269

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.9× what the cheapest tenth charges ($471 vs $3,269).

How the prices are spread

$367 – $475: 157 hospitals$367$475 – $614: 232 hospitals$614 – $793: 231 hospitals$614$793 – $1,026: 341 hospitals$1,026 – $1,326: 413 hospitals$1,026$1,326 – $1,715: 477 hospitals$1,715 – $2,217: 352 hospitals$1,715$2,217 – $2,867: 173 hospitals$2,867 – $3,706: 148 hospitals$2,867$3,706 – $4,792: 91 hospitals$3,706median $1,290price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,615 of 2,905 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$367$475157
$475$614232
$614$793231
$793$1,026341
$1,026$1,326413
$1,326$1,715477
$1,715$2,217352
$2,217$2,867173
$2,867$3,706148
$3,706$4,79291

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$408
Median cash price$1,290
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 $1,290.

Alaska: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $681 across 23 hospitalsME$681Vermont: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $1,571 across 18 hospitalsNH$1,571Washington: median $1,240 across 58 hospitalsWA$1,240Idaho: median $1,311 across 17 hospitalsID$1,311Montana: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: median $882 across 14 hospitalsND$882Minnesota: median $1,199 across 86 hospitalsMN$1,199Illinois: median $1,521 across 118 hospitalsIL$1,521Wisconsin: median $1,290 across 103 hospitalsWI$1,290Michigan: median $971 across 80 hospitalsMI$971New York: median $926 across 91 hospitalsNY$926Massachusetts: median $1,387 across 46 hospitalsMA$1,387Oregon: median $1,244 across 39 hospitalsOR$1,244Nevada: median $1,330 across 16 hospitalsNV$1,330Wyoming: median $1,421 across 12 hospitalsWY$1,421South Dakota: median $1,879 across 19 hospitalsSD$1,879Iowa: median $1,238 across 70 hospitalsIA$1,238Indiana: median $1,265 across 85 hospitalsIN$1,265Ohio: median $1,432 across 138 hospitalsOH$1,432Pennsylvania: median $845 across 111 hospitalsPA$845New Jersey: median $536 across 58 hospitalsNJ$536Connecticut: median $829 across 17 hospitalsCT$829Rhode Island: median $1,103 across 10 hospitalsRI$1,103California: median $1,921 across 200 hospitalsCA$1,921Utah: median $1,371 across 36 hospitalsUT$1,371Colorado: median $1,631 across 57 hospitalsCO$1,631Nebraska: median $1,708 across 59 hospitalsNE$1,708Missouri: median $1,008 across 70 hospitalsMO$1,008Kentucky: median $1,352 across 61 hospitalsKY$1,352West Virginia: median $1,003 across 34 hospitalsWV$1,003Virginia: median $1,364 across 70 hospitalsVA$1,364Maryland: median $1,811 across 37 hospitalsMD$1,811Delaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $991 across 43 hospitalsAZ$991New Mexico: median $989 across 21 hospitalsNM$989Kansas: median $883 across 62 hospitalsKS$883Arkansas: median $601 across 25 hospitalsAR$601Tennessee: median $660 across 77 hospitalsTN$660North Carolina: median $1,322 across 87 hospitalsNC$1,322South Carolina: median $1,410 across 50 hospitalsSC$1,410Oklahoma: median $844 across 45 hospitalsOK$844Louisiana: median $515 across 49 hospitalsLA$515Mississippi: median $593 across 41 hospitalsMS$593Alabama: median $1,030 across 37 hospitalsAL$1,030Georgia: median $1,138 across 92 hospitalsGA$1,138Hawaii: median $1,056 across 11 hospitalsHI$1,056Texas: median $1,403 across 211 hospitalsTX$1,403Florida: median $2,253 across 171 hospitalsFL$2,253
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,290. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Florida FL171$2,253+75%$1,046 – $5,233
California CA200$1,921+49%$897 – $3,689
South Dakota SD19$1,879+46%$1,630 – $2,250
Maryland MD37$1,811+40%$1,215 – $2,194
Nebraska NE59$1,708+32%$1,190 – $2,239
Colorado CO57$1,631+26%$952 – $3,352
New Hampshire NH18$1,571+22%$1,366 – $2,713
Illinois IL118$1,521+18%$847 – $2,406
Ohio OH138$1,432+11%$878 – $1,802
Wyoming WY12$1,421+10%$956 – $1,700
South Carolina SC50$1,410+9%$1,131 – $1,932
Texas TX211$1,403+9%$792 – $3,225
Massachusetts MA46$1,387+7%$949 – $1,814
Utah UT36$1,371+6%$1,215 – $1,613
Virginia VA70$1,364+6%$866 – $3,087
Kentucky KY61$1,352+5%$1,032 – $1,963
Nevada NV16$1,330+3%$806 – $3,867
North Carolina NC87$1,322+2%$999 – $1,760
Idaho ID17$1,311+2%$835 – $1,425
Wisconsin WI103$1,2900%$318 – $1,936
Indiana IN85$1,265−2%$921 – $1,665
Oregon OR39$1,244−4%$834 – $1,763
Washington WA58$1,240−4%$960 – $1,773
Iowa IA70$1,238−4%$970 – $1,637
Minnesota MN86$1,199−7%$566 – $1,405
Georgia GA92$1,138−12%$683 – $2,019
Rhode Island RI10$1,103−15%$462 – $1,605
Hawaii HI11$1,056−18%$754 – $1,341
Alabama AL37$1,030−20%$457 – $2,448
Missouri MO70$1,008−22%$662 – $1,818
West Virginia WV34$1,003−22%$602 – $1,521
Arizona AZ43$991−23%$523 – $4,589
New Mexico NM21$989−23%$681 – $1,602
Michigan MI80$971−25%$622 – $1,814
New York NY91$926−28%$499 – $1,873
Kansas KS62$883−32%$565 – $1,874
North Dakota ND14$882−32%$574 – $1,666
Pennsylvania PA111$845−35%$472 – $2,595
Oklahoma OK45$844−35%$419 – $1,512
Connecticut CT17$829−36%$683 – $1,379
Maine ME23$681−47%$368 – $1,937
Tennessee TN77$660−49%$452 – $1,284
Arkansas AR25$601−53%$487 – $1,093
Mississippi MS41$593−54%$394 – $827
New Jersey NJ58$536−58%$445 – $1,210
Louisiana LA49$515−60%$365 – $967
Montana MT9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK7not 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 $1,290.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,246$1,290$639 – $2,307
Children’s48$2,100$1,027 – $2,973
Critical access601$1,240$727 – $1,858
Ownership
For-profit435$1,641$757 – $4,757
Government461$1,100$583 – $1,761
Non-profit1,999$1,290$670 – $1,993
System affiliation
Part of a system2,423$1,310$674 – $2,231
Independent482$1,156$611 – $1,950

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,200
Median cash price$1,290
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

2,005 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,331 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,346; most fall between $723 and $2,036.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,005 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
$501$823$1,331$1,873$2,946

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 5.9× what the cheapest tenth charges ($501 vs $2,946).

Of the 2,215 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,005 gave a usable cash price; 116 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 94 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,905 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (73%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,195 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,905
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here188
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 — excluded101
Hospitals that filed this code3,195

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 Gastric Emptying Imaging Study|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, “Stomach emptying nuclear scan (CPT 78264) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-78264-stomach-emptying-nuclear-scan