MRI of the lower back, no contrast dye in El Paso, TX
In El Paso, TX, 3 hospitals list a cash price for MRI of the lower back, no contrast dye: from $183.40 to $461.08, with a median of $435.49. The lowest listed price is at El Paso Children's Hospital.
Cash prices at 3 facilities across 2 cities for code 72148, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Sep 23, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between — and —.
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.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Off list | File date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Paso Children's Hospital lowest El Paso, TX MRI LUMBAR SPINE W/O CONT | $183.40 | $917.00 | 80% | — source file |
| University Medical Center Surgical Hospital Dieter El Paso, TX ES MRI LUMBAR SPINE W/O CONT | $435.49 | $2,177.45 | 80% | — source file |
| University Medical Center El Paso El Paso, TX WS MRI LUMBAR SPINE W/O CONT | $435.49 | $2,177.45 | 80% | — source file |
| University Medical Center Surgical Hospital Dieter El Paso, TX REN MRI LUMBAR SPIW/O CONT | $435.49 | $2,177.45 | 80% | — source file |
| University Medical Center El Paso El Paso, TX REN MRI LUMBAR SPIW/O CONT | $435.49 | $2,177.45 | 80% | — source file |
| University Medical Center El Paso El Paso, TX ES MRI LUMBAR SPINE W/O CONT | $435.49 | $2,177.45 | 80% | — source file |
| University Medical Center Surgical Hospital Dieter El Paso, TX WS MRI LUMBAR SPINE W/O CONT | $435.49 | $2,177.45 | 80% | — source file |
| University Medical Center El Paso El Paso, TX MRI L-SPINE W/O | $461.08 | $2,305.40 | 80% | — source file |
| University Medical Center Surgical Hospital Dieter El Paso, TX MRI L-SPINE W/O | $461.08 | $2,305.40 | 80% | — source file |
Outpatient: lowest $183.40, median $435.49, highest $461.08 — a 2.5× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 3 facilities here, median $435.49. Inpatient and outpatient prices are not comparable and are kept on separate pages: the inpatient charge covers admission, not the same purchase.
What it is
An MRI of the lower back uses a magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the lumbar spine, including discs, nerves and the spinal canal. It is commonly ordered for back pain that spreads down the leg, numbness or weakness. No contrast dye is used.
What the price covers
The hospital price usually covers the scan. The radiologist's interpretation is often billed separately.
3 rows held back from this comparison
They are priced below $1 or below a tenth of the national median for code 72148 ($1,646.40). 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, TXSH MRI LUMBAR SPINE W/O CONT | $144.35 | file |
| University Medical Center Surgical Hospital Dieter El Paso, TXNE MRI LUMBAR SPINE W/O CONT | $162.54 | file |
| University Medical Center El Paso El Paso, TXNE MRI LUMBAR SPINE W/O CONT | $162.54 | file |