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Procedure price report · Radioisotope scan and function studies

Brain PET scan to measure blood flow

CPT 78609the billing code this page is about

A positron emission tomography scan of the brain with a radioactive tracer that shows how blood is flowing through brain tissue.

Hospitals typically charge $3,724 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 301 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $3,773. Most fall between $2,095 and $6,536 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
301
States
44
Filings dated
Jan 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 301 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
$1,575$2,210$3,724$6,248$9,524

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.0× what the cheapest tenth charges ($1,575 vs $9,524).

How the prices are spread

$788 – $1,034: 5 hospitals$788$1,034 – $1,357: 3 hospitals$1,357 – $1,780: 19 hospitals$1,357$1,780 – $2,336: 50 hospitals$2,336 – $3,066: 30 hospitals$2,336$3,066 – $4,024: 42 hospitals$4,024 – $5,280: 47 hospitals$4,024$5,280 – $6,930: 31 hospitals$6,930 – $9,094: 26 hospitals$6,930$9,094 – $11,934: 19 hospitals$9,094median $3,724price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (272 of 301 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$788$1,0345
$1,034$1,3573
$1,357$1,78019
$1,780$2,33650
$2,336$3,06630
$3,066$4,02442
$4,024$5,28047
$5,280$6,93031
$6,930$9,09426
$9,094$11,93419

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $3,724.

Alaska: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceAKMaine: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMEVermont: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureILWisconsin: median $4,060 across 10 hospitalsWI$4,060Michigan: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMINew York: median $1,899 across 12 hospitalsNY$1,899Massachusetts: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIAIndiana: median $3,061 across 10 hospitalsIN$3,061Ohio: median $4,526 across 20 hospitalsOH$4,526Pennsylvania: median $7,048 across 11 hospitalsPA$7,048New Jersey: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNJConnecticut: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $3,724 across 30 hospitalsCA$3,724Utah: median $6,354 across 22 hospitalsUT$6,354Colorado: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: median $5,391 across 12 hospitalsKY$5,391West Virginia: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: median $7,252 across 10 hospitalsMD$7,252Delaware: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceKSArkansas: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureOKLouisiana: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 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 $2,095 across 17 hospitalsGA$2,095Hawaii: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $2,210 across 24 hospitalsTX$2,210Florida: median $3,012 across 23 hospitalsFL$3,012
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $3,724. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Maryland MD10$7,252+95%$2,798 – $9,073
Pennsylvania PA11$7,048+89%$7,005 – $7,048
Utah UT22$6,354+71%$6,354 – $7,476
Kentucky KY12$5,391+45%$4,856 – $5,391
Ohio OH20$4,526+22%$2,494 – $4,526
Wisconsin WI10$4,060+9%$4,060 – $4,642
California CA30$3,7240%$2,228 – $3,724
Indiana IN10$3,061−18%$1,868 – $5,391
Florida FL23$3,012−19%$3,012 – $5,624
Texas TX24$2,210−41%$2,210 – $4,579
Georgia GA17$2,095−44%$2,095 – $2,095
New York NY12$1,899−49%$236 – $9,934
Oklahoma OK8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Illinois IL6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Jersey NJ6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Michigan MI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Iowa IA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY1not 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 $3,724.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care273$3,724$2,095 – $7,048
Children’s11fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access15fewer than 20 hospitals
Ownership
For-profit35$3,012$2,095 – $10,289
Government29$2,095$1,772 – $5,624
Non-profit235$3,724$2,210 – $6,536
System affiliation
Part of a system264$3,724$2,095 – $6,536
Independent37$4,168$1,889 – $6,946

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$6,084
Median cash price$3,724
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

249 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $3,724 and the average of the middle 60% is $3,710; most fall between $2,095 and $6,354.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 249 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
$1,643$2,210$3,724$5,220$7,476

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 4.6× what the cheapest tenth charges ($1,643 vs $7,476).

Of the 319 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 249 gave a usable cash price; 55 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 15 a list price only.

How complete is this

301 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (8%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 407 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted301
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here60
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 — excluded46
Hospitals that filed this code407

Sections not shown for this setting

  • Against Medicare: Medicare has no separately payable national outpatient (OPPS) rate for this code, so there is nothing honest to compare against.
  • 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 Imaging Pet Perfusion.

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, “Brain PET scan to measure blood flow (CPT 78609) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-78609-brain-pet-scan-to-measure-blood-flow