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Procedure price report · Radioisotope bone scan

Whole-body nuclear bone scan

CPT 78306the billing code this page is about

Imaging of the entire skeleton after a small amount of radioactive tracer is injected into a vein.

Hospitals typically charge $1,385 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 3,007 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,396. Most fall between $746 and $2,218 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
3,007
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 3,007 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
$499$851$1,385$2,019$3,345

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.7× what the cheapest tenth charges ($499 vs $3,345).

How the prices are spread

$394 – $508: 161 hospitals$394$508 – $654: 196 hospitals$654 – $843: 235 hospitals$654$843 – $1,087: 326 hospitals$1,087 – $1,401: 482 hospitals$1,087$1,401 – $1,805: 506 hospitals$1,805 – $2,327: 396 hospitals$1,805$2,327 – $2,999: 208 hospitals$2,999 – $3,864: 98 hospitals$2,999$3,864 – $4,980: 99 hospitals$3,864median $1,385price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,707 of 3,007 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$394$508161
$508$654196
$654$843235
$843$1,087326
$1,087$1,401482
$1,401$1,805506
$1,805$2,327396
$2,327$2,999208
$2,999$3,86498
$3,864$4,98099

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$408
Median cash price$1,385
Cash as a multiple of Medicare3.4×

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 $1,385.

Alaska: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $788 across 23 hospitalsME$788Vermont: median $1,812 across 10 hospitalsVT$1,812New Hampshire: median $1,328 across 18 hospitalsNH$1,328Washington: median $1,459 across 57 hospitalsWA$1,459Idaho: median $1,425 across 16 hospitalsID$1,425Montana: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: median $1,262 across 23 hospitalsND$1,262Minnesota: median $1,078 across 93 hospitalsMN$1,078Illinois: median $1,564 across 121 hospitalsIL$1,564Wisconsin: median $1,382 across 107 hospitalsWI$1,382Michigan: median $1,193 across 82 hospitalsMI$1,193New York: median $943 across 107 hospitalsNY$943Massachusetts: median $1,394 across 49 hospitalsMA$1,394Oregon: median $1,144 across 39 hospitalsOR$1,144Nevada: median $1,330 across 16 hospitalsNV$1,330Wyoming: median $1,556 across 12 hospitalsWY$1,556South Dakota: median $2,021 across 25 hospitalsSD$2,021Iowa: median $1,233 across 77 hospitalsIA$1,233Indiana: median $1,531 across 85 hospitalsIN$1,531Ohio: median $1,535 across 141 hospitalsOH$1,535Pennsylvania: median $1,229 across 112 hospitalsPA$1,229New Jersey: median $531 across 57 hospitalsNJ$531Connecticut: median $1,379 across 20 hospitalsCT$1,379Rhode Island: median $602 across 10 hospitalsRI$602California: median $2,122 across 207 hospitalsCA$2,122Utah: median $1,576 across 37 hospitalsUT$1,576Colorado: median $1,657 across 57 hospitalsCO$1,657Nebraska: median $1,771 across 76 hospitalsNE$1,771Missouri: median $1,138 across 71 hospitalsMO$1,138Kentucky: median $1,473 across 61 hospitalsKY$1,473West Virginia: median $1,064 across 35 hospitalsWV$1,064Virginia: median $1,393 across 70 hospitalsVA$1,393Maryland: median $1,267 across 38 hospitalsMD$1,267Delaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $1,439 across 42 hospitalsAZ$1,439New Mexico: median $1,125 across 23 hospitalsNM$1,125Kansas: median $874 across 62 hospitalsKS$874Arkansas: median $640 across 25 hospitalsAR$640Tennessee: median $695 across 77 hospitalsTN$695North Carolina: median $1,352 across 88 hospitalsNC$1,352South Carolina: median $1,543 across 52 hospitalsSC$1,543Oklahoma: median $920 across 46 hospitalsOK$920Louisiana: median $619 across 51 hospitalsLA$619Mississippi: median $626 across 42 hospitalsMS$626Alabama: median $1,167 across 37 hospitalsAL$1,167Georgia: median $1,276 across 94 hospitalsGA$1,276Hawaii: median $1,056 across 12 hospitalsHI$1,056Texas: median $1,589 across 211 hospitalsTX$1,589Florida: median $2,538 across 171 hospitalsFL$2,538
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,385. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Florida FL171$2,538+83%$1,266 – $8,277
California CA207$2,122+53%$1,099 – $3,457
South Dakota SD25$2,021+46%$1,747 – $2,285
Vermont VT10$1,812+31%$1,415 – $3,149
Nebraska NE76$1,771+28%$1,347 – $2,055
Colorado CO57$1,657+20%$1,191 – $3,058
Texas TX211$1,589+15%$860 – $3,689
Utah UT37$1,576+14%$1,486 – $1,854
Illinois IL121$1,564+13%$900 – $2,521
Wyoming WY12$1,556+12%$1,041 – $2,233
South Carolina SC52$1,543+11%$1,199 – $1,877
Ohio OH141$1,535+11%$1,030 – $1,860
Indiana IN85$1,531+11%$1,078 – $1,902
Kentucky KY61$1,473+6%$1,000 – $2,177
Washington WA57$1,459+5%$1,009 – $1,952
Arizona AZ42$1,439+4%$769 – $4,340
Idaho ID16$1,425+3%$915 – $1,576
Massachusetts MA49$1,394+1%$868 – $2,002
Virginia VA70$1,393+1%$975 – $2,323
Wisconsin WI107$1,3820%$454 – $1,910
Connecticut CT20$1,3790%$637 – $2,364
North Carolina NC88$1,352−2%$1,092 – $1,869
Nevada NV16$1,330−4%$1,022 – $3,345
New Hampshire NH18$1,328−4%$1,052 – $2,975
Georgia GA94$1,276−8%$606 – $2,117
Maryland MD38$1,267−8%$852 – $1,774
North Dakota ND23$1,262−9%$801 – $1,506
Iowa IA77$1,233−11%$923 – $1,698
Pennsylvania PA112$1,229−11%$503 – $2,467
Michigan MI82$1,193−14%$740 – $1,662
Alabama AL37$1,167−16%$648 – $2,305
Oregon OR39$1,144−17%$842 – $1,584
Missouri MO71$1,138−18%$731 – $1,864
New Mexico NM23$1,125−19%$732 – $1,802
Minnesota MN93$1,078−22%$595 – $1,557
West Virginia WV35$1,064−23%$696 – $1,521
Hawaii HI12$1,056−24%$908 – $1,366
New York NY107$943−32%$571 – $1,888
Oklahoma OK46$920−34%$624 – $1,573
Kansas KS62$874−37%$571 – $1,887
Maine ME23$788−43%$438 – $1,620
Tennessee TN77$695−50%$452 – $1,454
Arkansas AR25$640−54%$474 – $956
Mississippi MS42$626−55%$429 – $1,123
Louisiana LA51$619−55%$355 – $1,132
Rhode Island RI10$602−57%$447 – $1,069
New Jersey NJ57$531−62%$463 – $1,210
Montana MT9not 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 $1,385.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,285$1,393$725 – $2,443
Children’s60$1,663$1,230 – $2,823
Critical access652$1,324$769 – $1,905
Ownership
For-profit444$1,921$830 – $5,673
Government482$1,175$644 – $1,877
Non-profit2,071$1,373$768 – $2,117
System affiliation
Part of a system2,516$1,404$776 – $2,301
Independent491$1,170$644 – $1,917

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,299
Median cash price$1,385
Cash as a share of list, median hospital62%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 38%. 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

2,061 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,435 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,449; most fall between $807 and $2,194.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,061 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
$557$918$1,435$2,015$2,979

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 5.4× what the cheapest tenth charges ($557 vs $2,979).

Of the 2,267 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,061 gave a usable cash price; 110 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 96 a list price only.

How complete is this

3,007 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (76%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,301 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted3,007
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 — excluded105
Hospitals that filed this code3,301

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 Radioisotope bone scan family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Bone &/Joint Imaging Whole Body|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, “Whole-body nuclear bone scan (CPT 78306) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-78306-whole-body-nuclear-bone-scan