Lower back MRI with contrast cost in El Paso, TX — inpatient
In El Paso, TX, 3 hospitals list a cash price for MRI of the lower back, without and then with contrast dye as an inpatient: from $611.40 to $719.15, with a median of $719.15. The lowest listed price is at El Paso Children's Hospital — $107.75 less than the median here. Across Texas, the median is $3,196.33 at 99 hospitals.
Cash prices at 3 facilities across 2 cities for code 72158, as an inpatient (admitted to hospital) . 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 | Insurers pay | Off list | File date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Paso Children's Hospital lowest El Paso, TX · (915) 521-7148 MRI LUMBAR SPINE W/WO CONT | $611.40 | $3,057.00 | $282.58–$2,445.60 | 80% | — source file |
| University Medical Center El Paso El Paso, TX · (915) 521-7602 ES MRI LUMBAR SPINE W/WO CONT | $719.15 | $3,595.74 | $252.83–$1,977.66 | 80% | — source file |
| University Medical Center Surgical Hospital Dieter El Paso, TX REN MRI LUMBAR SPIW/WO CONT | $719.15 | $3,595.74 | $252.83–$1,977.66 | 80% | — source file |
| University Medical Center El Paso El Paso, TX · (915) 521-7602 WS MRI LUMBAR SPINE W/WO CONT | $719.15 | $3,595.74 | $252.83–$1,977.66 | 80% | — source file |
| University Medical Center Surgical Hospital Dieter El Paso, TX WS MRI LUMBAR SPINE W/WO CONT | $719.15 | $3,595.74 | $252.83–$1,977.66 | 80% | — source file |
| University Medical Center Surgical Hospital Dieter El Paso, TX ES MRI LUMBAR SPINE W/WO CONT | $719.15 | $3,595.74 | $252.83–$1,977.66 | 80% | — source file |
| University Medical Center El Paso El Paso, TX · (915) 521-7602 REN MRI LUMBAR SPIW/WO CONT | $719.15 | $3,595.74 | $252.83–$1,977.66 | 80% | — source file |
| University Medical Center Surgical Hospital Dieter El Paso, TX MRI L-SPINE W&W/O | $1,047.06 | $5,235.32 | $252.83–$2,879.43 | 80% | — source file |
| University Medical Center El Paso El Paso, TX · (915) 521-7602 MRI L-SPINE W&W/O | $1,047.06 | $5,235.32 | $252.83–$2,879.43 | 80% | — source file |
Inpatient: lowest $611.40, median $719.15, highest $719.15 — a 1.2× difference within the same market.
As an outpatient, the same code is billed by 3 facilities here, median $719.15 — 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
This MRI of the lumbar spine takes one set of pictures without contrast dye and a second set after the dye is injected into a vein. The dye helps tell scar tissue from a new disc problem after back surgery and can show infection, inflammation or tumors.
What the price covers
The hospital price usually covers both sets of images; the contrast agent may appear as a separate line on some bills. The radiologist's reading 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 72158 ($2,556.09). 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/WO CONT | $186.35 | file |
| University Medical Center El Paso El Paso, TXNE MRI LUMBAR SPINE W/WO CONT | $249.10 | file |
| University Medical Center Surgical Hospital Dieter El Paso, TXNE MRI LUMBAR SPINE W/WO CONT | $249.10 | file |