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Procedure price report · Cardiac stress tests

Exercise stress test — interpretation and report only

CPT 93018the billing code this page is about

Covers only the doctor's reading and written report of a heart stress test; the supervision, tracings and facility charges are billed separately.

Hospitals typically charge $44 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 767 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $53. Most fall between $25 and $116 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
767
States
49
Filings dated
Dec 2023 – 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 767 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
$17$28$44$97$180

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 10× what the cheapest tenth charges ($17 vs $180).

How the prices are spread

$14 – $19: 53 hospitals$14$19 – $25: 67 hospitals$25 – $33: 106 hospitals$25$33 – $45: 135 hospitals$45 – $60: 68 hospitals$45$60 – $80: 75 hospitals$80 – $107: 62 hospitals$80$107 – $143: 46 hospitals$143 – $191: 55 hospitals$143$191 – $255: 27 hospitals$191median $44price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (694 of 767 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$14$1953
$19$2567
$25$33106
$33$45135
$45$6068
$60$8075
$80$10762
$107$14346
$143$19155
$191$25527

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $44.

Alaska: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $63 across 17 hospitalsME$63Vermont: median $53 across 11 hospitalsVT$53New Hampshire: median $43 across 11 hospitalsNH$43Washington: median $44 across 25 hospitalsWA$44Idaho: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: median $24 across 12 hospitalsMT$24North Dakota: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $41 across 48 hospitalsMN$41Illinois: median $94 across 39 hospitalsIL$94Wisconsin: median $163 across 43 hospitalsWI$163Michigan: median $36 across 44 hospitalsMI$36New York: median $39 across 30 hospitalsNY$39Massachusetts: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: median $41 across 34 hospitalsOR$41Nevada: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: median $49 across 16 hospitalsSD$49Iowa: median $35 across 46 hospitalsIA$35Indiana: median $33 across 19 hospitalsIN$33Ohio: median $44 across 28 hospitalsOH$44Pennsylvania: median $43 across 31 hospitalsPA$43New Jersey: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNJConnecticut: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $47 across 25 hospitalsCA$47Utah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: median $40 across 15 hospitalsCO$40Nebraska: median $44 across 24 hospitalsNE$44Missouri: median $41 across 21 hospitalsMO$41Kentucky: median $33 across 15 hospitalsKY$33West Virginia: median $26 across 17 hospitalsWV$26Virginia: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $75 across 28 hospitalsKS$75Arkansas: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $17 across 10 hospitalsTN$17North Carolina: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $25 across 11 hospitalsOK$25Louisiana: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $29 across 15 hospitalsGA$29Hawaii: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $55 across 10 hospitalsTX$55Florida: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $44. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Wisconsin WI43$163+271%$70 – $245
Illinois IL39$94+113%$33 – $257
Kansas KS28$75+70%$41 – $125
Maine ME17$63+43%$22 – $115
Texas TX10$55+25%$14 – $102
Vermont VT11$53+20%$35 – $82
South Dakota SD16$49+12%$38 – $219
California CA25$47+7%$12 – $107
Ohio OH28$44+1%$22 – $105
Nebraska NE24$440%$29 – $72
Washington WA25$44−1%$29 – $99
Pennsylvania PA31$43−3%$10 – $66
New Hampshire NH11$43−3%$32 – $56
Minnesota MN48$41−7%$24 – $154
Missouri MO21$41−7%$18 – $97
Oregon OR34$41−8%$29 – $44
Colorado CO15$40−10%$22 – $70
New York NY30$39−11%$18 – $89
Michigan MI44$36−19%$23 – $140
Iowa IA46$35−20%$31 – $94
Indiana IN19$33−24%$17 – $379
Kentucky KY15$33−24%$17 – $65
Georgia GA15$29−35%$23 – $86
West Virginia WV17$26−41%$16 – $46
Oklahoma OK11$25−43%$25 – $25
Montana MT12$24−45%$20 – $42
Tennessee TN10$17−62%$13 – $17
Arizona AZ9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Jersey NJ1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI1not 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 $44.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care403$38$22 – $95
Children’s8fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access355$53$29 – $148
Ownership
For-profit37$77$33 – $163
Government199$53$28 – $138
Non-profit530$41$23 – $97
System affiliation
Part of a system537$41$23 – $107
Independent230$50$29 – $134

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$65
Median cash price$44
Cash as a share of list, median hospital70%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 30%. 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

463 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $42 and the average of the middle 60% is $50; most fall between $25 and $119.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 463 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
$20$28$42$97$181

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.1× what the cheapest tenth charges ($20 vs $181).

Of the 525 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 463 gave a usable cash price; 21 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 41 a list price only.

How complete is this

767 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (19%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 858 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted767
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here35
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 — excluded56
Hospitals that filed this code858

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 Cardiac stress tests family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Cv Strs Tst Xers&/or Rx Cont Ecg I&R 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, “Exercise stress test — interpretation and report only (CPT 93018) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-93018-exercise-stress-test-interpretation-and-report-only