Scans and imaging CPT 70553 Inpatient — admitted to hospital

MRI of the brain, with and without contrast dye in El Paso, TX — inpatient

In El Paso, TX, 3 hospitals list a cash price for MRI of the brain, with and without contrast dye as an inpatient: from $458.20 to $1,202.00, with a median of $825.61. The lowest listed price is at El Paso Children's Hospital.

Cash prices at 3 facilities across 2 cities for code 70553, as an inpatient (admitted to hospital) . Collected Sep 23, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between — and —.

Lowest$458.20El Paso Children's Hospital
Median$825.61half pay less
Highest$1,202.00in this market
Difference2.6×highest vs lowest

Where each hospital's price falls

Each dot is one hospital's cash price on a scale from the lowest to the highest in El Paso, TX.

median
Lowest $458.20Highest $1,202.00

Hospitals, cheapest first

HospitalCash price List priceOff listFile date
El Paso Children's Hospital lowest El Paso, TX MRI BRAIN W/WO CONT $458.20 $2,291.00 80%
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University Medical Center Surgical Hospital Dieter El Paso, TX ES MRI BRAIN W/WO CONT $825.61 $4,128.06 80%
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University Medical Center El Paso El Paso, TX WS MRI BRAIN W/WO CONT $825.61 $4,128.06 80%
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University Medical Center Surgical Hospital Dieter El Paso, TX REN MRI BRAIN W/WO CONT $825.61 $4,128.06 80%
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University Medical Center El Paso El Paso, TX REN MRI BRAIN W/WO CONT $825.61 $4,128.06 80%
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University Medical Center El Paso El Paso, TX ES MRI BRAIN W/WO CONT $825.61 $4,128.06 80%
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University Medical Center Surgical Hospital Dieter El Paso, TX WS MRI BRAIN W/WO CONT $825.61 $4,128.06 80%
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University Medical Center El Paso El Paso, TX MRI BRAIN W&W/O $1,202.00 $6,009.98 80%
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University Medical Center Surgical Hospital Dieter El Paso, TX MRI BRAIN W&W/O $1,202.00 $6,009.98 80%
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Inpatient: lowest $458.20, median $825.61, highest $1,202.00 — a 2.6× difference within the same market.

As an outpatient, the same code is billed by 3 facilities here, median $825.61 — that is the price to compare if you are not being admitted.

What it is

This brain MRI is done in two parts: first without contrast dye, then again after a gadolinium contrast dye is injected into a vein. The contrast helps show tumors, infection, inflammation and conditions such as multiple sclerosis more clearly.

What the price covers

The hospital price usually covers both sets of images. The radiologist's reading is often billed separately, and the contrast agent may appear as its own pharmacy charge.

3 rows held back from this comparison

They are priced below $1 or below a tenth of the national median for code 70553 ($2,545.78). Such a line is almost always a physician's fee billed separately, an assistant's share or a placeholder — a real charge, but not the price of the procedure itself.

University Medical Center Surgical Hospital Dieter El Paso, TXNE MRI BRAIN W/WO CONT $241.14 file
University Medical Center Surgical Hospital Dieter El Paso, TXSH MRI BRAIN W/WO CONT $241.14 file
University Medical Center El Paso El Paso, TXNE MRI BRAIN W/WO CONT $241.14 file