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Procedure price report · Other radioisotope scan

Heart PET scan of blood flow, one study

CPT 78491the billing code this page is about

A positron emission tomography scan using a radioactive tracer to show blood flow to the heart muscle; billed as a single study at rest or with stress.

Hospitals typically charge $3,221 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 570 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $3,222. Most fall between $1,584 and $5,645 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
570
States
46
Filings dated
Nov 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 570 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
$821$1,718$3,221$5,125$7,199

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.8× what the cheapest tenth charges ($821 vs $7,199).

How the prices are spread

$343 – $480: 8 hospitals$343$480 – $671: 17 hospitals$671 – $939: 11 hospitals$671$939 – $1,314: 16 hospitals$1,314 – $1,839: 99 hospitals$1,314$1,839 – $2,573: 53 hospitals$2,573 – $3,600: 79 hospitals$2,573$3,600 – $5,037: 117 hospitals$5,037 – $7,048: 84 hospitals$5,037$7,048 – $9,862: 43 hospitals$7,048median $3,221price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (527 of 570 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$343$4808
$480$67117
$671$93911
$939$1,31416
$1,314$1,83999
$1,839$2,57353
$2,573$3,60079
$3,600$5,037117
$5,037$7,04884
$7,048$9,86243

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$1,461
Median cash price$3,221
Cash as a multiple of Medicare2.2×

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 $3,221.

Alaska: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceAKMaine: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $3,062 across 16 hospitalsWA$3,062Idaho: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceIDMontana: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMTNorth Dakota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $3,990 across 16 hospitalsIL$3,990Wisconsin: median $4,060 across 44 hospitalsWI$4,060Michigan: median $1,966 across 17 hospitalsMI$1,966New York: median $1,726 across 30 hospitalsNY$1,726Massachusetts: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $175 across 16 hospitalsIA$175Indiana: median $2,674 across 23 hospitalsIN$2,674Ohio: median $3,650 across 48 hospitalsOH$3,650Pennsylvania: median $5,639 across 15 hospitalsPA$5,639New Jersey: median $1,616 across 15 hospitalsNJ$1,616Connecticut: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $9,862 across 35 hospitalsCA$9,862Utah: median $5,125 across 11 hospitalsUT$5,125Colorado: median $3,721 across 21 hospitalsCO$3,721Nebraska: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: median $5,857 across 15 hospitalsKY$5,857West Virginia: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $4,056 across 10 hospitalsVA$4,056Maryland: median $3,603 across 10 hospitalsMD$3,603Delaware: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $1,788 across 13 hospitalsTN$1,788North Carolina: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureOKLouisiana: median $1,545 across 11 hospitalsLA$1,545Mississippi: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $1,724 across 40 hospitalsGA$1,724Hawaii: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $2,674 across 57 hospitalsTX$2,674Florida: median $4,448 across 20 hospitalsFL$4,448
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $3,221. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA35$9,862+206%$2,255 – $9,862
Kentucky KY15$5,857+82%$2,858 – $6,136
Pennsylvania PA15$5,639+75%$2,466 – $5,639
Utah UT11$5,125+59%$5,125 – $5,125
Florida FL20$4,448+38%$597 – $10,518
Wisconsin WI44$4,060+26%$3,723 – $6,276
Virginia VA10$4,056+26%$4,056 – $4,740
Illinois IL16$3,990+24%$1,526 – $4,655
Colorado CO21$3,721+15%$3,419 – $7,643
Ohio OH48$3,650+13%$1,901 – $4,928
Maryland MD10$3,603+12%$1,865 – $5,247
Washington WA16$3,062−5%$2,981 – $4,074
Texas TX57$2,674−17%$1,584 – $3,628
Indiana IN23$2,674−17%$2,236 – $3,491
Michigan MI17$1,966−39%$588 – $6,143
Tennessee TN13$1,788−44%$1,187 – $2,439
New York NY30$1,726−46%$1,470 – $4,617
Georgia GA40$1,724−46%$546 – $4,268
New Jersey NJ15$1,616−50%$1,594 – $5,558
Louisiana LA11$1,545−52%$954 – $2,640
Iowa IA16$175−95%$175 – $3,759
Connecticut CT9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oklahoma OK8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH1not 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 $3,221.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care512$3,061$1,584 – $5,645
Children’s9fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access47$3,950$1,714 – $6,143
Ownership
For-profit67$2,690$1,584 – $8,492
Government59$1,912$1,393 – $4,422
Non-profit442$3,419$1,594 – $5,639
System affiliation
Part of a system518$3,410$1,584 – $5,709
Independent52$2,820$1,464 – $4,914

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$5,791
Median cash price$3,221
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

438 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $3,628 and the average of the middle 60% is $3,576; most fall between $1,680 and $5,645.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 438 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
$1,187$1,901$3,628$5,125$7,181

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.0× what the cheapest tenth charges ($1,187 vs $7,181).

Of the 496 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 438 gave a usable cash price; 47 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 11 a list price only.

How complete is this

570 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (14%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 658 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted570
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here70
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded18
Hospitals that filed this code658

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 Prfuj Single Study Rest/Stress|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 blood flow, one study (CPT 78491) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-78491-heart-pet-scan-of-blood-flow-one-study