Lower back MRI with contrast cost in Richmond, VA
In Richmond, VA, 5 hospitals list a cash price for MRI of the lower back, without and then with contrast dye: from $3,340.20 to $8,307.00, with a median of $3,340.20. The lowest listed price is at Bon Secours Richmond Community Hospital and 3 other hospitals. Across Virginia, the median is $3,315.50 at 37 hospitals.
Cash prices at 5 facilities across 4 cities for code 72158, 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 Richmond, VA.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list | File date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bon Secours Richmond Community Hospital lowest Richmond, VA · (804) 225-1701 HC MRI-Spine Lumbar WO & W Cont | $3,340.20 | $5,567.00 | — | 40% | — source file |
| Bon Secours St Marys Hospital of Richmond lowest Richmond, VA · (804) 285-2011 HC MRI-Spine Lumbar WO & W Cont | $3,340.20 | $5,567.00 | — | 40% | — source file |
| Bon Secours St Francis Medical Center lowest Midlothian, VA · (804) 594-7400 HC MRI-Spine Lumbar WO & W Cont | $3,340.20 | $5,567.00 | — | 40% | — source file |
| Bon Secours Memorial Regional Medical Center lowest Mechanicsville, VA · (804) 764-6000 HC MRI-Spine Lumbar WO & W Cont | $3,340.20 | $5,567.00 | — | 40% | — source file |
| Bon Secours Southside Medical Center Petersburg, VA · (804) 765-5000 HC MRI-Spine Lumbar WO & W Cont | $8,307.00 | $27,690.00 | — | 70% | — source file |
Outpatient: lowest $3,340.20, median $3,340.20, highest $8,307.00 — a 2.5× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 5 facilities here, median $2,267.40. 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
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.