HRHospitalRates.comCompare prices

Procedure price report · Radioisotope scan and function studies

Nuclear brain scan, limited views with blood flow

CPT 78601the billing code this page is about

Nuclear medicine imaging of the brain using a radioactive tracer, with fewer than four still images plus imaging of blood flow through the brain; this older code has since been retired.

Hospitals typically charge $837 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,087 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $900. Most fall between $472 and $1,691 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,087
States
49
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 1,087 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
$378$511$837$1,450$2,626

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.9× what the cheapest tenth charges ($378 vs $2,626).

How the prices are spread

$277 – $358: 42 hospitals$277$358 – $462: 110 hospitals$462 – $596: 146 hospitals$462$596 – $769: 146 hospitals$769 – $992: 129 hospitals$769$992 – $1,280: 133 hospitals$1,280 – $1,652: 108 hospitals$1,280$1,652 – $2,132: 67 hospitals$2,132 – $2,751: 55 hospitals$2,132$2,751 – $3,550: 45 hospitals$2,751median $837price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (981 of 1,087 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$277$35842
$358$462110
$462$596146
$596$769146
$769$992129
$992$1,280133
$1,280$1,652108
$1,652$2,13267
$2,132$2,75155
$2,751$3,55045

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$408
Median cash price$837
Cash as a multiple of Medicare2.0×

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 $837.

Alaska: 3 hospitals 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 $928 across 24 hospitalsWA$928Idaho: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $921 across 16 hospitalsMN$921Illinois: median $1,000 across 55 hospitalsIL$1,000Wisconsin: median $1,450 across 44 hospitalsWI$1,450Michigan: median $720 across 23 hospitalsMI$720New York: median $541 across 42 hospitalsNY$541Massachusetts: median $1,138 across 16 hospitalsMA$1,138Oregon: median $1,273 across 12 hospitalsOR$1,273Nevada: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: median $736 across 18 hospitalsIA$736Indiana: median $907 across 38 hospitalsIN$907Ohio: median $946 across 45 hospitalsOH$946Pennsylvania: median $897 across 55 hospitalsPA$897New Jersey: median $473 across 34 hospitalsNJ$473Connecticut: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $1,308 across 104 hospitalsCA$1,308Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $626 across 19 hospitalsCO$626Nebraska: median $621 across 12 hospitalsNE$621Missouri: median $626 across 31 hospitalsMO$626Kentucky: median $615 across 21 hospitalsKY$615West Virginia: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $932 across 31 hospitalsVA$932Maryland: median $1,234 across 17 hospitalsMD$1,234Delaware: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $353 across 14 hospitalsAZ$353New Mexico: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $1,028 across 11 hospitalsKS$1,028Arkansas: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $452 across 28 hospitalsTN$452North Carolina: median $786 across 32 hospitalsNC$786South Carolina: median $653 across 24 hospitalsSC$653Oklahoma: median $458 across 23 hospitalsOK$458Louisiana: median $427 across 18 hospitalsLA$427Mississippi: median $537 across 15 hospitalsMS$537Alabama: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $715 across 43 hospitalsGA$715Hawaii: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $837 across 103 hospitalsTX$837Florida: median $1,184 across 53 hospitalsFL$1,184
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $837. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Wisconsin WI44$1,450+73%$775 – $1,742
California CA104$1,308+56%$520 – $3,550
Oregon OR12$1,273+52%$848 – $1,339
Maryland MD17$1,234+47%$1,044 – $2,105
Florida FL53$1,184+42%$784 – $3,952
Massachusetts MA16$1,138+36%$692 – $1,477
Kansas KS11$1,028+23%$719 – $2,880
Illinois IL55$1,000+19%$434 – $1,418
Ohio OH45$946+13%$532 – $1,365
Virginia VA31$932+11%$547 – $2,254
Washington WA24$928+11%$608 – $1,524
Minnesota MN16$921+10%$597 – $986
Indiana IN38$907+8%$776 – $1,259
Pennsylvania PA55$897+7%$472 – $1,516
Texas TX103$8370%$399 – $1,991
North Carolina NC32$786−6%$514 – $1,136
Iowa IA18$736−12%$58 – $1,227
Michigan MI23$720−14%$550 – $1,157
Georgia GA43$715−15%$499 – $1,577
South Carolina SC24$653−22%$653 – $1,977
Missouri MO31$626−25%$575 – $1,017
Colorado CO19$626−25%$544 – $1,399
Nebraska NE12$621−26%$456 – $857
Kentucky KY21$615−27%$443 – $1,969
New York NY42$541−35%$476 – $1,068
Mississippi MS15$537−36%$309 – $1,004
New Jersey NJ34$473−43%$384 – $2,261
Oklahoma OK23$458−45%$311 – $946
Tennessee TN28$452−46%$315 – $504
Louisiana LA18$427−49%$290 – $667
Arizona AZ14$353−58%$258 – $548
Alabama AL9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT1not 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 $837.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care954$790$463 – $1,742
Children’s23$1,351$804 – $2,040
Critical access106$932$535 – $1,450
Ownership
For-profit151$920$434 – $2,391
Government106$610$385 – $1,100
Non-profit826$867$485 – $1,691
System affiliation
Part of a system970$863$475 – $1,748
Independent117$719$427 – $1,383

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$1,564
Median cash price$837
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

812 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $886 and the average of the middle 60% is $932; most fall between $489 and $1,691.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 812 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
$379$541$886$1,450$2,412

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.4× what the cheapest tenth charges ($379 vs $2,412).

Of the 884 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 812 gave a usable cash price; 42 carried a plausibility flag, 2 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 28 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,087 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (27%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,193 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,087
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here76
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded2
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded28
Hospitals that filed this code1,193

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 PR Brain Ltd Imaging & Flow.

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 brain scan, limited views with blood flow (CPT 78601) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-78601-nuclear-brain-scan-limited-views-with-blood-flow