SelfPayRates — hospital cash prices, from the source

MRI of the brain, with and without contrast dye in Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH

Cash prices at 8 facilities across 5 cities for code 70553, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Sep 23, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between — and —.

HospitalCash price List priceOffFile date
Boston Medical Center South BROCKTON, MA
HC Chg MRI Brain Brain Stem W/O W/Contrast Material
$757.55 $1,683.45 55%
file
Boston Medical Center Brighton BOSTON, MA
HC Chg MRI Brain Brain Stem W/O W/Contrast Material
$844.62 $1,876.94 55%
file
Tufts Medical Center BOSTON, MA
HC MRI Brain W & WO Contrast
$1,908.90 $2,727.00 30%
file
Boston Medical Center BOSTON, MA
HC Chg MRI Brain Brain Stem W/O W/Contrast Material
$2,684.70 $5,966.00 55%
file
Lowell General Hospital LOWELL, MA
HC MRI Brain W & WO Contrast
$2,760.80 $3,944.00 30%
file
MELROSEWAKEFIELD HEALTHCARE MELROSE, MA
HC MRI Brain W & WO Contrast
$3,135.30 $4,479.00 30%
file
Shriners Childrens - Boston BOSTON, MA
MRI BRAIN STEM W/O & W/DYE
$3,657.00 $3,657.00
file
Cambridge Health Alliance CAMBRIDGE, MA
HC MRI-Brain Stem W/O & W/ Contrast
$4,370.00 $4,370.00
file

Outpatient: lowest $757.55, median $2,722.75, highest $4,370.00 — a 5.8× difference within the same market.

As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 7 facilities here, median $2,684.70. Inpatient and outpatient prices are not comparable and are kept on separate pages: the inpatient charge covers admission, not the same purchase.

Other markets for this procedure