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Procedure price report · Radioisotope scan and function studies

Nuclear brain scan, four or more views with blood flow

CPT 78606the billing code this page is about

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

Hospitals typically charge $1,177 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,650 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,271. Most fall between $640 and $2,340 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,650
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 1,650 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
$512$696$1,177$2,006$3,705

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.2× what the cheapest tenth charges ($512 vs $3,705).

How the prices are spread

$400 – $515: 84 hospitals$400$515 – $662: 200 hospitals$662 – $851: 196 hospitals$662$851 – $1,095: 200 hospitals$1,095 – $1,407: 217 hospitals$1,095$1,407 – $1,810: 170 hospitals$1,810 – $2,327: 160 hospitals$1,810$2,327 – $2,992: 118 hospitals$2,992 – $3,847: 73 hospitals$2,992$3,847 – $4,947: 68 hospitals$3,847median $1,177price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,486 of 1,650 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$400$51584
$515$662200
$662$851196
$851$1,095200
$1,095$1,407217
$1,407$1,810170
$1,810$2,327160
$2,327$2,992118
$2,992$3,84773
$3,847$4,94768

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$555
Median cash price$1,177
Cash as a multiple of Medicare2.1×

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 $1,177.

Alaska: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $1,132 across 11 hospitalsME$1,132Vermont: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $1,181 across 29 hospitalsWA$1,181Idaho: 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: median $863 across 10 hospitalsND$863Minnesota: median $893 across 26 hospitalsMN$893Illinois: median $1,197 across 58 hospitalsIL$1,197Wisconsin: median $1,330 across 50 hospitalsWI$1,330Michigan: median $747 across 43 hospitalsMI$747New York: median $974 across 55 hospitalsNY$974Massachusetts: median $1,554 across 25 hospitalsMA$1,554Oregon: median $1,417 across 25 hospitalsOR$1,417Nevada: median $590 across 12 hospitalsNV$590Wyoming: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: median $1,481 across 15 hospitalsSD$1,481Iowa: median $947 across 32 hospitalsIA$947Indiana: median $1,037 across 43 hospitalsIN$1,037Ohio: median $1,256 across 74 hospitalsOH$1,256Pennsylvania: median $1,138 across 64 hospitalsPA$1,138New Jersey: median $634 across 46 hospitalsNJ$634Connecticut: median $1,088 across 11 hospitalsCT$1,088Rhode Island: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $2,340 across 151 hospitalsCA$2,340Utah: median $1,068 across 29 hospitalsUT$1,068Colorado: median $1,177 across 32 hospitalsCO$1,177Nebraska: median $788 across 18 hospitalsNE$788Missouri: median $767 across 38 hospitalsMO$767Kentucky: median $850 across 32 hospitalsKY$850West Virginia: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $1,050 across 44 hospitalsVA$1,050Maryland: median $1,808 across 32 hospitalsMD$1,808Delaware: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $1,001 across 38 hospitalsAZ$1,001New Mexico: median $1,034 across 10 hospitalsNM$1,034Kansas: median $804 across 20 hospitalsKS$804Arkansas: median $606 across 15 hospitalsAR$606Tennessee: median $470 across 36 hospitalsTN$470North Carolina: median $822 across 28 hospitalsNC$822South Carolina: median $889 across 23 hospitalsSC$889Oklahoma: median $658 across 18 hospitalsOK$658Louisiana: median $548 across 33 hospitalsLA$548Mississippi: median $653 across 22 hospitalsMS$653Alabama: median $613 across 17 hospitalsAL$613Georgia: median $874 across 58 hospitalsGA$874Hawaii: median $979 across 10 hospitalsHI$979Texas: median $1,554 across 151 hospitalsTX$1,554Florida: median $1,800 across 124 hospitalsFL$1,800
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,177. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA151$2,340+99%$694 – $4,374
Maryland MD32$1,808+54%$940 – $2,194
Florida FL124$1,800+53%$1,073 – $4,229
Massachusetts MA25$1,554+32%$791 – $2,174
Texas TX151$1,554+32%$830 – $2,516
South Dakota SD15$1,481+26%$1,234 – $1,758
Oregon OR25$1,417+20%$71 – $2,100
Wisconsin WI50$1,330+13%$723 – $1,936
Ohio OH74$1,256+7%$927 – $2,414
Illinois IL58$1,197+2%$789 – $2,069
Washington WA29$1,1810%$817 – $1,848
Colorado CO32$1,1770%$837 – $2,631
Pennsylvania PA64$1,138−3%$716 – $4,401
Maine ME11$1,132−4%$535 – $2,280
Connecticut CT11$1,088−8%$874 – $1,808
Utah UT29$1,068−9%$709 – $1,256
Virginia VA44$1,050−11%$531 – $3,594
Indiana IN43$1,037−12%$644 – $1,609
New Mexico NM10$1,034−12%$509 – $2,134
Arizona AZ38$1,001−15%$491 – $1,818
Hawaii HI10$979−17%$813 – $1,607
New York NY55$974−17%$637 – $2,194
Iowa IA32$947−19%$558 – $1,310
Minnesota MN26$893−24%$659 – $1,918
South Carolina SC23$889−24%$564 – $2,406
Georgia GA58$874−26%$673 – $2,076
North Dakota ND10$863−27%$617 – $1,615
Kentucky KY32$850−28%$570 – $2,006
North Carolina NC28$822−30%$658 – $1,217
Kansas KS20$804−32%$511 – $1,193
Nebraska NE18$788−33%$640 – $1,337
Missouri MO38$767−35%$604 – $1,357
Michigan MI43$747−37%$631 – $1,920
Oklahoma OK18$658−44%$568 – $1,366
Mississippi MS22$653−45%$434 – $839
New Jersey NJ46$634−46%$533 – $2,529
Alabama AL17$613−48%$526 – $1,273
Arkansas AR15$606−49%$400 – $1,187
Nevada NV12$590−50%$463 – $3,956
Louisiana LA33$548−53%$318 – $992
Tennessee TN36$470−60%$275 – $798
Idaho ID8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT2not 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 $1,177.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,424$1,177$639 – $2,414
Children’s37$2,162$855 – $2,851
Critical access183$1,074$631 – $1,867
Ownership
For-profit264$1,800$694 – $4,177
Government197$867$559 – $1,472
Non-profit1,183$1,169$648 – $2,194
System affiliation
Part of a system1,432$1,183$658 – $2,414
Independent218$964$572 – $2,027

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,251
Median cash price$1,177
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

1,186 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,226 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,327; most fall between $689 and $2,297.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,186 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
$537$780$1,226$2,000$3,305

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.2× what the cheapest tenth charges ($537 vs $3,305).

Of the 1,300 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,186 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 54 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,650 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (42%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,818 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,650
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here105
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 — excluded63
Hospitals that filed this code1,818

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 Brain Imaging Min 4 Static Views W Vascular Flow|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, “Nuclear brain scan, four or more views with blood flow (CPT 78606) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-78606-nuclear-brain-scan-four-or-more-views-with-blood-flow