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Procedure price report · Other radioisotope scan

Nuclear bowel scan to look for a Meckel's pouch

CPT 78290the billing code this page is about

A nuclear medicine imaging study of the intestine using a tracer that collects in stomach-type lining, used to find a Meckel's diverticulum or similar misplaced tissue.

Hospitals typically charge $975 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,565 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,028. Most fall between $522 and $1,802 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,565
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 2,565 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
$399$588$975$1,577$2,727

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.8× what the cheapest tenth charges ($399 vs $2,727).

How the prices are spread

$304 – $396: 126 hospitals$304$396 – $517: 237 hospitals$517 – $674: 290 hospitals$517$674 – $879: 366 hospitals$879 – $1,147: 375 hospitals$879$1,147 – $1,496: 329 hospitals$1,496 – $1,951: 287 hospitals$1,496$1,951 – $2,544: 120 hospitals$2,544 – $3,318: 106 hospitals$2,544$3,318 – $4,328: 80 hospitals$3,318median $975price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,316 of 2,565 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$304$396126
$396$517237
$517$674290
$674$879366
$879$1,147375
$1,147$1,496329
$1,496$1,951287
$1,951$2,544120
$2,544$3,318106
$3,318$4,32880

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$408
Median cash price$975
Cash as a multiple of Medicare2.4×

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 $975.

Alaska: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $681 across 20 hospitalsME$681Vermont: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $1,554 across 15 hospitalsNH$1,554Washington: median $960 across 48 hospitalsWA$960Idaho: median $1,069 across 14 hospitalsID$1,069Montana: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: median $1,103 across 14 hospitalsND$1,103Minnesota: median $776 across 72 hospitalsMN$776Illinois: median $1,258 across 107 hospitalsIL$1,258Wisconsin: median $938 across 97 hospitalsWI$938Michigan: median $692 across 72 hospitalsMI$692New York: median $864 across 86 hospitalsNY$864Massachusetts: median $1,149 across 34 hospitalsMA$1,149Oregon: median $1,144 across 37 hospitalsOR$1,144Nevada: median $1,330 across 16 hospitalsNV$1,330Wyoming: median $981 across 12 hospitalsWY$981South Dakota: median $1,445 across 15 hospitalsSD$1,445Iowa: median $891 across 48 hospitalsIA$891Indiana: median $913 across 76 hospitalsIN$913Ohio: median $1,186 across 123 hospitalsOH$1,186Pennsylvania: median $997 across 97 hospitalsPA$997New Jersey: median $518 across 54 hospitalsNJ$518Connecticut: median $910 across 16 hospitalsCT$910Rhode Island: median $1,055 across 10 hospitalsRI$1,055California: median $1,391 across 187 hospitalsCA$1,391Utah: median $1,549 across 36 hospitalsUT$1,549Colorado: median $1,197 across 51 hospitalsCO$1,197Nebraska: median $1,153 across 53 hospitalsNE$1,153Missouri: median $845 across 61 hospitalsMO$845Kentucky: median $731 across 51 hospitalsKY$731West Virginia: median $1,003 across 23 hospitalsWV$1,003Virginia: median $779 across 55 hospitalsVA$779Maryland: median $1,808 across 36 hospitalsMD$1,808Delaware: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $1,017 across 41 hospitalsAZ$1,017New Mexico: median $782 across 17 hospitalsNM$782Kansas: median $782 across 47 hospitalsKS$782Arkansas: median $433 across 20 hospitalsAR$433Tennessee: median $452 across 65 hospitalsTN$452North Carolina: median $803 across 80 hospitalsNC$803South Carolina: median $1,162 across 45 hospitalsSC$1,162Oklahoma: median $522 across 38 hospitalsOK$522Louisiana: median $478 across 43 hospitalsLA$478Mississippi: median $512 across 34 hospitalsMS$512Alabama: median $701 across 31 hospitalsAL$701Georgia: median $745 across 83 hospitalsGA$745Hawaii: median $998 across 11 hospitalsHI$998Texas: median $906 across 193 hospitalsTX$906Florida: median $1,742 across 153 hospitalsFL$1,742
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $975. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Maryland MD36$1,808+85%$1,215 – $2,194
Florida FL153$1,742+79%$790 – $4,686
New Hampshire NH15$1,554+59%$903 – $2,066
Utah UT36$1,549+59%$1,026 – $1,823
South Dakota SD15$1,445+48%$1,277 – $1,610
California CA187$1,391+43%$743 – $3,192
Nevada NV16$1,330+36%$560 – $3,931
Illinois IL107$1,258+29%$656 – $1,919
Colorado CO51$1,197+23%$728 – $2,676
Ohio OH123$1,186+22%$685 – $1,802
South Carolina SC45$1,162+19%$851 – $1,700
Nebraska NE53$1,153+18%$806 – $1,710
Massachusetts MA34$1,149+18%$682 – $1,372
Oregon OR37$1,144+17%$834 – $1,852
North Dakota ND14$1,103+13%$683 – $1,496
Idaho ID14$1,069+10%$835 – $1,425
Rhode Island RI10$1,055+8%$462 – $1,261
Arizona AZ41$1,017+4%$491 – $4,674
West Virginia WV23$1,003+3%$637 – $1,718
Hawaii HI11$998+2%$743 – $1,502
Pennsylvania PA97$997+2%$462 – $1,893
Wyoming WY12$981+1%$691 – $1,229
Washington WA48$960−1%$693 – $1,382
Wisconsin WI97$938−4%$355 – $1,393
Indiana IN76$913−6%$636 – $1,395
Connecticut CT16$910−7%$769 – $1,418
Texas TX193$906−7%$643 – $3,438
Iowa IA48$891−9%$569 – $1,154
New York NY86$864−11%$476 – $1,481
Missouri MO61$845−13%$554 – $1,366
North Carolina NC80$803−18%$519 – $1,044
Kansas KS47$782−20%$448 – $1,542
New Mexico NM17$782−20%$679 – $1,420
Virginia VA55$779−20%$521 – $1,207
Minnesota MN72$776−20%$515 – $1,080
Georgia GA83$745−24%$541 – $1,580
Kentucky KY51$731−25%$481 – $1,617
Alabama AL31$701−28%$384 – $1,420
Michigan MI72$692−29%$410 – $1,393
Maine ME20$681−30%$368 – $1,341
Oklahoma OK38$522−46%$266 – $1,154
New Jersey NJ54$518−47%$374 – $669
Mississippi MS34$512−47%$371 – $824
Louisiana LA43$478−51%$311 – $760
Tennessee TN65$452−54%$305 – $748
Arkansas AR20$433−56%$238 – $961
Vermont VT9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE5not 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 $975.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,040$955$519 – $1,835
Children’s47$1,666$829 – $3,136
Critical access469$987$539 – $1,505
Ownership
For-profit371$1,516$603 – $4,571
Government383$803$475 – $1,237
Non-profit1,802$975$522 – $1,700
System affiliation
Part of a system2,156$989$528 – $1,823
Independent409$877$481 – $1,511

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$1,730
Median cash price$975
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

1,823 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $987 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,051; most fall between $536 and $1,742.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,823 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
$406$632$987$1,551$2,554

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.3× what the cheapest tenth charges ($406 vs $2,554).

Of the 1,995 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,823 gave a usable cash price; 84 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 88 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,565 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (65%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 2,817 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,565
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here155
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 — excluded96
Hospitals that filed this code2,817

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 Other radioisotope scan family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as PR Intestine Imaging.

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 bowel scan to look for a Meckel's pouch (CPT 78290) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-78290-nuclear-bowel-scan-to-look-for-a-meckel-s-pouch