Scans and imaging CPT 73221 Inpatient — admitted to hospital

Shoulder MRI cost in Houma, LA — inpatient

In Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA, 3 hospitals list a cash price for MRI of the shoulder, elbow or wrist joint, no contrast dye as an inpatient: from $453.08 to $1,930.22, with a median of $739.64. The lowest listed price is at Leonard J Chabert Medical Center — $286.56 less than the median here. Across Louisiana, the median is $751.67 at 54 hospitals.

Cash prices at 3 facilities across 3 cities for code 73221, as an inpatient (admitted to hospital) . Collected Sep 29, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Apr 1, 2026 and Sep 15, 2026.

Lowest$453.08Leonard J Chabert Medical Center

Median$739.64half of hospitals charge less

Highest$1,930.22in this market

Difference4.3×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 Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA.

median

Lowest $453.08Highest $1,930.22

Hospitals, cheapest first

Hospital	Cash price	List price	Insurers pay	Off list
Leonard J Chabert Medical Center lowest Houma, LA · (985) 873-2200 HC MRI UP EXT JT W/O CONTRAS File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file	$453.08	$964.00	—	53%
Ochsner St Anne General Hospital Raceland, LA · (985) 537-6841 HC MRI UP EXT JT W/O CONTRAS File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file	$739.64	$1,681.00	—	56%
Lady of the Sea General Hospital one side Cut Off, LA · (985) 632-6401 MRI UPPER LT EXTREMITY JOINT WO CONTRAS+1 more line at this price File of Sep 15, 2026 · source file	$1,930.22	$1,930.22	$59.21–$1,351.15	—

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

Inpatient: lowest $453.08, median $739.64, highest $1,930.22 — a 4.3× difference within the same market.

As an outpatient, the same code is billed by 3 facilities here, median $739.64 — that is the price to compare if you are not being admitted.

Cash or insurance?

At the one hospital here that publishes insurer rates for this code, the cash price is not below the highest rate a health plan has negotiated. 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

An MRI of an upper-limb joint makes detailed pictures of one joint, most often the shoulder, though the code also covers the elbow and wrist. It shows tendons, ligaments, cartilage and the labrum, such as a rotator cuff tear that does not show on X-rays. No contrast dye is used.

What the price covers

The hospital price usually covers the scan of one joint. The radiologist's reading is often billed separately.