SelfPayRates
Scans and imaging CPT 72131 Outpatient

Lumbar spine CT cost in Philadelphia, PA

In Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD, 24 hospitals list a cash price for CT scan of the lower back (lumbar spine) without contrast: from $536.26 to $4,873.51, with a median of $900.00. The lowest listed price is at Inspira Medical Center Mannington and 3 other hospitals — $363.74 less than the median here. Across Pennsylvania, the median is $1,149.99 at 100 hospitals.

  • The median here, $900.00, is 36% below the US median of $1,397.59.
  • That is 8.4× Medicare's 2026 national rate for the same service ($106.81).
  • Philadelphia, PA has the lowest median of 2 metro areas in Pennsylvania with at least 10 hospitals pricing this code.
  • 8 of 24 hospitals list a cash price equal to their full list price, with no self-pay discount.

Cash prices at 24 facilities across 20 cities for code 72131, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Oct 26, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Dec 31, 2025 and Sep 21, 2026.

Lowest$536.26Inspira Medical Center Mannington + 3 more
Median$900.00half of hospitals charge less
Highest$4,873.51in this market
Difference9.1×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 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD.

median
Lowest $536.26Highest $4,873.51

Hospitals, cheapest first

HospitalCash priceList priceInsurers payOff list
Inspira Medical Center Mannington lowest Salem, NJ CT LS-SPINE W/O CONT File of Mar 24, 2026 · source file $536.26 $536.26 $90.36–$437.91 —
Inspira Medical Center Elmer lowest Elmer, NJ · (856) 363-1000 CT LS-SPINE W/O CONT File of Mar 24, 2026 · source file $536.26 $536.26 $97.59–$437.91 —
Inspira Health Center Woodbury lowest Woodbury, NJ CT LS-SPINE W/O CONT File of Mar 24, 2026 · source file $536.26 $536.26 $92.32–$437.91 —
Inspira Medical Center Mullica Hill lowest Mullica Hill, NJ · (856) 363-1000 CT LS-SPINE W/O CONT File of Mar 24, 2026 · source file $536.26 $536.26 $97.59–$437.91 —
Virtua West Jersey Hospital - Marlton Voorhees, NJ · (856) 247-3000 HC CT Lumbar Spine w/o Contrast File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file $586.40 $5,864.00 $111.57–$1,829.36 90%
Virtua Willingboro Hospital Willinboro, NJ · (609) 835-2900 HC CT Lumbar Spine w/o Contrast File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file $586.40 $5,864.00 $111.57–$1,829.36 90%
Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Camden, NJ · (856) 886-5373 HC CT Lumbar Spine w/o Contrast File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file $586.40 $5,864.00 $111.57–$1,829.36 90%
Virtua Memorial Hospital Mount Holly, NJ · (609) 267-0700 HC CT Lumbar Spine w/o Contrast File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file $586.40 $5,864.00 $111.57–$1,829.36 90%
Virtua West Jersey Hospital - Voorhees Voorhees, NJ · (856) 247-3000 HC CT Lumbar Spine w/o Contrast+1 more line at this price File of Jun 1, 2026 · source file $586.40 $5,864.00 $111.57–$1,829.36 90%
Holy Redeemer Hospital and Medical Center Meadowbrook, PA · (215) 947-3000 Lumbar Spine Plain - CT File of Sep 21, 2026 · source file $691.49 $1,152.47 $105.87–$1,002.65 40%
Lankenau Medical Center Wynnewood, PA · (610) 645-2000 Hc Ct Lumbar Spine Wo Contrast File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file $900.00 $2,250.00 — 60%
The Bryn Mawr Hospital Bryn Mawr, PA · (610) 526-3000 Hc Ct Lumbar Spine Wo Contrast File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file $900.00 $2,250.00 — 60%
Paoli Hospital Paoli, PA · (610) 648-1000 Hc Ct Lumbar Spine Wo Contrast File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file $900.00 $2,250.00 — 60%
Riddle Memorial Hospital Media, PA · (610) 566-9400 Hc Ct Lumbar Spine Wo Contrast File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file $900.00 $2,250.00 — 60%
St Mary Medical Center Langhorne, PA · (215) 750-2003 HC CT Lumbar Spine W/O Contrast File of Mar 31, 2026 · source file $1,430.65 $2,201.00 $90.16–$2,090.95 35%
Union Hospital of Cecil County Elkton, MD · (410) 392-7009 CT,LUMBAR SPINE,WO CONTRAST GLR File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file $1,483.72 $1,483.72 — —
Nazareth Hospital Philadelphia, PA · (215) 335-6000 HC CT Lumbar Spine W/O Contrast File of Mar 31, 2026 · source file $1,692.60 $2,604.00 $90.16–$2,551.92 35%
Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital Darby, PA · (215) 237-4000 HC CT Lumbar Spine W/O Contrast File of Mar 31, 2026 · source file $1,771.90 $2,726.00 $85.92–$2,726.00 35%
St. Francis Hospital Wilmington, DE · (302) 421-4100 HC CT Lumbar Spine W/O Contrast File of Mar 31, 2026 · source file $1,932.45 $2,973.00 $109.05–$2,854.08 35%
St Luke's Hospital - Upper Bucks Campus Quakertown, PA · (267) 985-1000 HB CT LUMBAR SPINE W/O DYE File of Feb 26, 2026 · source file $3,592.80 $3,992.00 $108.87–$3,306.17 10%
St Luke's Hospital - Grand View Campus Sellersville, PA · (215) 453-4000 HB CT LUMBAR SPINE W/O DYE File of Feb 26, 2026 · source file $3,592.80 $3,992.00 $105.80–$15,937.85 10%
Shriners Childrens - Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA · (215) 430-4000 CT LUMBAR SPINE W/O DYE File of Mar 19, 2026 · source file $3,643.00 $3,643.00 $107.41–$377.55 —
Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware Wilmington, DE · (302) 651-4000 CT Lumbar W/O Cont+1 more line at this price File of Mar 10, 2026 · source file $4,017.00 $4,017.00 — —
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA · (215) 590-1000 CT L-Spine WO Contrast File of Dec 31, 2025 · source file $4,873.51 $4,873.51 $118.94–$4,386.16 —
Hospital The hospital that published the price, its city and the line exactly as written in its price file.
Cash price The hospital's own price for a patient paying without insurance (“discounted cash” in its price file). Hospitals must publish it under federal law, 45 CFR 180.50. Call to confirm it before booking. More
List price The hospital's full chargemaster price (“gross charge”) before any discount. Almost nobody pays it; the gap to the cash price shows what the self-pay discount is worth. More
Insurers pay The lowest and highest rates this hospital has agreed with insurance plans for the same item, from its price file. If the cash price is below what your plan pays and you have not met your deductible, paying cash can cost you less. More
Off list How much lower the cash price is than the list price.
No cash discount This line's cash price equals the hospital's full list price. Many hospitals still reduce bills for uninsured patients: ask the billing office for its self-pay discount in writing. More

Outpatient: lowest $536.26, median $900.00, highest $4,873.51 — a 9.1× difference within the same market.

As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 17 facilities here, median $900.00. Inpatient and outpatient prices are not comparable and are kept on separate pages: the inpatient charge covers admission, not the same purchase.

Cash or insurance?

At 11 of 18 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 lumbar spine CT is, what the price covers and why prices differ: Lumbar spine CT explained.

2 rows held back from this comparison

They are priced below $1 or below a tenth of the national median for code 72131 ($1,377.00). 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.

HospitalCash priceFile
Lower Bucks Hospital Bristol, PAHc Ct Scan Lumbar Spine Wo Contrast $102.00 file
Roxborough Memorial Hospital Philadelphia, PAHc Ct Scan Lumbar Spine Wo Contrast $106.00 file
File Link to the hospital's own price file.