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Procedure price report · Other radioisotope scan

Heart PET scan of muscle metabolism, one study

CPT 78459the billing code this page is about

A positron emission tomography scan using a radioactive tracer to assess how the heart muscle uses energy; billed as a single imaging study.

Hospitals typically charge $3,695 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 865 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $3,752. Most fall between $1,875 and $6,021 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
865
States
50
Filings dated
Jun 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 865 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
$1,393$2,146$3,695$5,647$7,950

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 5.7× what the cheapest tenth charges ($1,393 vs $7,950).

How the prices are spread

$980 – $1,270: 23 hospitals$980$1,270 – $1,647: 82 hospitals$1,647 – $2,136: 64 hospitals$1,647$2,136 – $2,770: 107 hospitals$2,770 – $3,592: 100 hospitals$2,770$3,592 – $4,658: 123 hospitals$4,658 – $6,041: 150 hospitals$4,658$6,041 – $7,834: 81 hospitals$7,834 – $10,158: 31 hospitals$7,834$10,158 – $13,173: 20 hospitals$10,158median $3,695price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (781 of 865 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$980$1,27023
$1,270$1,64782
$1,647$2,13664
$2,136$2,770107
$2,770$3,592100
$3,592$4,658123
$4,658$6,041150
$6,041$7,83481
$7,834$10,15831
$10,158$13,17320

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$1,323
Median cash price$3,695
Cash as a multiple of Medicare2.8×

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 $3,695.

Alaska: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $3,029 across 20 hospitalsWA$3,029Idaho: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $4,850 across 44 hospitalsIL$4,850Wisconsin: median $4,237 across 29 hospitalsWI$4,237Michigan: median $1,811 across 15 hospitalsMI$1,811New York: median $1,616 across 37 hospitalsNY$1,616Massachusetts: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $2,873 across 23 hospitalsIA$2,873Indiana: median $2,983 across 33 hospitalsIN$2,983Ohio: median $4,282 across 62 hospitalsOH$4,282Pennsylvania: median $4,972 across 42 hospitalsPA$4,972New Jersey: median $1,445 across 21 hospitalsNJ$1,445Connecticut: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $3,959 across 64 hospitalsCA$3,959Utah: median $5,868 across 24 hospitalsUT$5,868Colorado: median $3,724 across 26 hospitalsCO$3,724Nebraska: median $2,807 across 13 hospitalsNE$2,807Missouri: median $2,971 across 21 hospitalsMO$2,971Kentucky: median $5,242 across 19 hospitalsKY$5,242West Virginia: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: median $10,809 across 12 hospitalsMD$10,809Delaware: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $4,966 across 11 hospitalsKS$4,966Arkansas: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $2,817 across 12 hospitalsTN$2,817North Carolina: median $3,518 across 23 hospitalsNC$3,518South Carolina: median $2,458 across 19 hospitalsSC$2,458Oklahoma: median $1,545 across 10 hospitalsOK$1,545Louisiana: median $2,234 across 17 hospitalsLA$2,234Mississippi: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $2,505 across 46 hospitalsGA$2,505Hawaii: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $3,550 across 65 hospitalsTX$3,550Florida: median $5,522 across 46 hospitalsFL$5,522
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $3,695. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Maryland MD12$10,809+193%$6,450 – $15,741
Utah UT24$5,868+59%$5,868 – $6,903
Florida FL46$5,522+49%$1,390 – $7,319
Kentucky KY19$5,242+42%$2,006 – $6,222
Pennsylvania PA42$4,972+35%$1,868 – $8,348
Kansas KS11$4,966+34%$2,937 – $7,094
Illinois IL44$4,850+31%$1,990 – $5,954
Ohio OH62$4,282+16%$3,339 – $5,855
Wisconsin WI29$4,237+15%$2,784 – $13,804
California CA64$3,959+7%$1,728 – $6,263
Colorado CO26$3,724+1%$1,653 – $7,301
Texas TX65$3,550−4%$2,146 – $6,352
North Carolina NC23$3,518−5%$1,447 – $4,488
Washington WA20$3,029−18%$2,600 – $4,483
Indiana IN33$2,983−19%$2,029 – $5,242
Missouri MO21$2,971−20%$1,986 – $4,250
Iowa IA23$2,873−22%$197 – $4,158
Tennessee TN12$2,817−24%$1,492 – $3,096
Nebraska NE13$2,807−24%$2,070 – $4,520
Georgia GA46$2,505−32%$2,460 – $4,321
South Carolina SC19$2,458−33%$2,458 – $2,500
Louisiana LA17$2,234−40%$1,448 – $3,431
Michigan MI15$1,811−51%$1,720 – $4,535
New York NY37$1,616−56%$1,545 – $5,539
Oklahoma OK10$1,545−58%$1,473 – $3,480
New Jersey NJ21$1,445−61%$798 – $1,713
Oregon OR9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI1not 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 $3,695.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care780$3,650$1,780 – $6,004
Children’s13fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access71$3,695$2,375 – $5,868
Ownership
For-profit104$3,991$1,868 – $11,103
Government102$3,398$1,545 – $5,270
Non-profit658$3,707$1,950 – $5,899
System affiliation
Part of a system772$3,711$1,911 – $5,954
Independent93$3,412$1,602 – $6,563

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$6,256
Median cash price$3,695
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

658 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $3,959 and the average of the middle 60% is $4,050; most fall between $2,197 and $5,998.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 658 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
$1,545$2,460$3,959$5,855$7,301

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 4.7× what the cheapest tenth charges ($1,545 vs $7,301).

Of the 740 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 658 gave a usable cash price; 60 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 22 a list price only.

How complete is this

865 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (22%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 989 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted865
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here92
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 — excluded31
Hospitals that filed this code989

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 Myocrd Img Pet Metab Eval Single 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, “Heart PET scan of muscle metabolism, one study (CPT 78459) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-78459-heart-pet-scan-of-muscle-metabolism-one-study