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Procedure price report · Radioisotope scan and function studies

Nuclear brain blood flow scan only

CPT 78610the billing code this page is about

Nuclear medicine imaging limited to the flow of a radioactive tracer through the blood vessels of the brain, without additional still images; this older code has since been retired.

Hospitals typically charge $770 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,071 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $900. Most fall between $420 and $1,732 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,071
States
48
Filings dated
Feb 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 1,071 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
$269$457$770$1,567$2,633

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.8× what the cheapest tenth charges ($269 vs $2,633).

How the prices are spread

$187 – $251: 54 hospitals$187$251 – $335: 43 hospitals$335 – $449: 100 hospitals$335$449 – $600: 167 hospitals$600 – $803: 147 hospitals$600$803 – $1,075: 96 hospitals$1,075 – $1,438: 111 hospitals$1,075$1,438 – $1,924: 122 hospitals$1,924 – $2,575: 77 hospitals$1,924$2,575 – $3,446: 57 hospitals$2,575median $770price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (974 of 1,071 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$187$25154
$251$33543
$335$449100
$449$600167
$600$803147
$803$1,07596
$1,075$1,438111
$1,438$1,924122
$1,924$2,57577
$2,575$3,44657

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$555
Median cash price$770
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.39×

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 $770.

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: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $745 across 28 hospitalsWA$745Idaho: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $922 across 39 hospitalsIL$922Wisconsin: median $1,620 across 24 hospitalsWI$1,620Michigan: median $621 across 25 hospitalsMI$621New York: median $637 across 40 hospitalsNY$637Massachusetts: median $1,570 across 17 hospitalsMA$1,570Oregon: median $645 across 17 hospitalsOR$645Nevada: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: median $51 across 19 hospitalsIA$51Indiana: median $1,103 across 20 hospitalsIN$1,103Ohio: median $677 across 76 hospitalsOH$677Pennsylvania: median $631 across 37 hospitalsPA$631New Jersey: median $694 across 27 hospitalsNJ$694Connecticut: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $1,481 across 109 hospitalsCA$1,481Utah: median $1,473 across 29 hospitalsUT$1,473Colorado: median $1,027 across 20 hospitalsCO$1,027Nebraska: median $357 across 12 hospitalsNE$357Missouri: median $981 across 21 hospitalsMO$981Kentucky: median $710 across 18 hospitalsKY$710West Virginia: median $1,302 across 12 hospitalsWV$1,302Virginia: median $452 across 22 hospitalsVA$452Maryland: median $977 across 20 hospitalsMD$977Delaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: median $415 across 16 hospitalsAZ$415New Mexico: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $572 across 17 hospitalsKS$572Arkansas: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $452 across 35 hospitalsTN$452North Carolina: median $1,092 across 17 hospitalsNC$1,092South Carolina: median $640 across 32 hospitalsSC$640Oklahoma: median $501 across 19 hospitalsOK$501Louisiana: median $353 across 14 hospitalsLA$353Mississippi: median $366 across 11 hospitalsMS$366Alabama: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $506 across 44 hospitalsGA$506Hawaii: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $887 across 107 hospitalsTX$887Florida: median $1,420 across 57 hospitalsFL$1,420
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $770. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Wisconsin WI24$1,620+110%$620 – $1,936
Massachusetts MA17$1,570+104%$897 – $1,910
California CA109$1,481+92%$659 – $3,254
Utah UT29$1,473+91%$866 – $1,732
Florida FL57$1,420+84%$765 – $2,519
West Virginia WV12$1,302+69%$603 – $2,037
Indiana IN20$1,103+43%$349 – $1,661
North Carolina NC17$1,092+42%$504 – $1,201
Colorado CO20$1,027+33%$403 – $1,708
Missouri MO21$981+27%$558 – $2,712
Maryland MD20$977+27%$657 – $1,185
Illinois IL39$922+20%$250 – $1,472
Texas TX107$887+15%$352 – $1,957
Washington WA28$745−3%$592 – $1,138
Kentucky KY18$710−8%$221 – $1,379
New Jersey NJ27$694−10%$596 – $2,261
Ohio OH76$677−12%$440 – $1,035
Oregon OR17$645−16%$443 – $966
South Carolina SC32$640−17%$640 – $2,556
New York NY40$637−17%$479 – $1,301
Pennsylvania PA37$631−18%$495 – $1,574
Michigan MI25$621−19%$428 – $1,382
Kansas KS17$572−26%$400 – $1,716
Georgia GA44$506−34%$187 – $1,898
Oklahoma OK19$501−35%$250 – $1,551
Tennessee TN35$452−41%$242 – $1,744
Virginia VA22$452−41%$437 – $669
Arizona AZ16$415−46%$279 – $2,943
Mississippi MS11$366−52%$293 – $431
Nebraska NE12$357−54%$357 – $473
Louisiana LA14$353−54%$269 – $664
Iowa IA19$51−93%$51 – $237
Alabama AL9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT1not 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 $770.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care941$757$437 – $1,744
Children’s27$1,088$592 – $1,898
Critical access97$730$293 – $1,473
Ownership
For-profit186$965$473 – $2,712
Government116$520$352 – $1,104
Non-profit763$794$437 – $1,708
System affiliation
Part of a system962$762$422 – $1,746
Independent109$783$405 – $1,429

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$1,558
Median cash price$770
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

785 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $787 and the average of the middle 60% is $896; most fall between $401 and $1,708.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 785 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
$250$452$787$1,572$2,414

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.7× what the cheapest tenth charges ($250 vs $2,414).

Of the 854 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 785 gave a usable cash price; 41 carried a plausibility flag, 0 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

1,071 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 1,195 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,071
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here87
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 — excluded37
Hospitals that filed this code1,195

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 Flow Imaging Only.

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 blood flow scan only (CPT 78610) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-78610-nuclear-brain-blood-flow-scan-only