Thoracic spine CT cost in Nashville, TN — inpatient
In Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN, 4 hospitals list a cash price for thoracic spine (mid back) CT scan without contrast as an inpatient: from $885.95 to $1,649.70, with a median of $1,235.17. The lowest listed price is at Vanderbilt Wilson County Hospital — $349.22 less than the median here. Across Tennessee, the median is $739.69 at 80 hospitals.
Cash prices at 4 facilities across 3 cities for code 72128, as an inpatient (admitted to hospital) . Collected Oct 2, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Oct 1, 2025 and Sep 1, 2026.
Where each hospital's price falls
Each dot is one hospital's cash price on a scale from the lowest to the highest in Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vanderbilt Wilson County Hospital lowest Lebanon, TN · (615) 444-2250 HC CT T-SPINE W/O CONTRAST File of Oct 1, 2025 · source file | $885.95 | $3,055.00 | $51.76–$2,444.00 | 71% |
| Williamson Medical Center Franklin, TN · (615) 435-5000 CT THORACIC SPINE W/O CONTRAST source file | $1,086.73 | $1,927.40 | $715.07–$1,831.03 | 44% |
| Metro Nashville General Hospital Nashville, TN · (615) 341-4000 CT Spine Thoracic w/o Contrast File of Sep 1, 2026 · source file | $1,383.60 | $2,306.00 | — | 40% |
| Vanderbilt University Medical Center Nashville, TN · (615) 322-3454 HC CT T-SPINE W/O CONTRAST File of Oct 1, 2025 · source file | $1,649.70 | $3,055.00 | $51.36–$2,444.00 | 46% |
Inpatient: lowest $885.95, median $1,235.17, highest $1,649.70 — a 1.9× difference within the same market.
As an outpatient, the same code is billed by 20 facilities here, median $2,617.17 — that is the price to compare if you are not being admitted.
Cash or insurance?
At 3 of 3 hospitals that publish insurer rates for this code here, the cash price is below the highest rate a health plan has negotiated, and at none is it below every plan's rate. If you have insurance but have not met your deductible, you usually pay your plan's negotiated rate, which falls somewhere in the "Insurers pay" column. Paying cash can cost less, but a cash payment usually does not count toward your deductible. Ask the hospital for both numbers before you book.
What it is
A thoracic spine CT makes detailed pictures of the twelve vertebrae of the mid back. It is used mainly after an injury to look for fractures, and in older adults for compression fractures.
What the price covers
The hospital price usually covers the scan and any contrast dye. The radiologist's reading is often billed separately.
1 row held back from this comparison
It is priced below $1 or below a tenth of the national median for code 72128 ($1,352.14). 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.
| Hospital | Cash price | File |
|---|---|---|
| Saint Thomas Hospital for Specialty Surgery Nashville, TNBCE CT Spine Thoracic w/o contrast 72128 | $130.72 | file |