Scans and imaging CPT 73221 Outpatient

Shoulder MRI cost in Philadelphia, PA

In Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD, 22 hospitals list a cash price for MRI of the shoulder, elbow or wrist joint, no contrast dye: from $234.00 to $9,542.67, with a median of $1,558.38. The lowest listed price is at Lower Bucks Hospital — $1,324.38 less than the median here. Across Pennsylvania, the median is $2,143.05 at 51 hospitals.

Cash prices at 22 facilities across 18 cities for code 73221, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Sep 23, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Mar 24, 2026 and Sep 1, 2026.

Lowest$234.00Lower Bucks Hospital
Median$1,558.38half pay less
Highest$9,542.67in this market
Difference40.8×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 $234.00Highest $9,542.67
one sideboth sides

Hospitals, cheapest first

HospitalCash price List priceInsurers payOff listFile date
Lower Bucks Hospital lowest Bristol, PA · (215) 785-9200 Hc Mri Joint Upper Extrem Wo Contrast $234.00 $3,900.00 $187.78–$3,120.00 94% Sep 1, 2026
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Roxborough Memorial Hospital Philadelphia, PA · (215) 483-9900 Hc Mri Joint Upper Extrem Wo Contrast $243.00 $5,022.69 $195.14–$4,872.01 95% Sep 1, 2026
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Roxborough Memorial Hospital Philadelphia, PA · (215) 483-9900 Hc Mri Joint Upper Extrem Wo Contrast $243.00 $5,022.69 $195.14–$4,872.01 95% Sep 1, 2026
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West Jersey Hospital Voorhees, NJ · (856) 247-3000 HC MRI Upper Extremity Any Joint W/O Contrast $774.70 $7,747.00 $253.60–$4,545.00 90% —
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Virtua Willingboro Hospital Willinboro, NJ · (609) 835-2900 HC MRI Upper Extremity Any Joint W/O Contrast $774.70 $7,747.00 $253.60–$4,545.00 90% —
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Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Camden, NJ · (856) 886-5373 HC MRI Upper Extremity Any Joint W/O Contrast $774.70 $7,747.00 $253.60–$4,545.00 90% —
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Virtua Memorial Hospital Mount Holly, NJ · (609) 267-0700 HC MRI Upper Extremity Any Joint W/O Contrast $774.70 $7,747.00 $253.60–$4,545.00 90% —
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West Jersey Hospital Voorhees, NJ · (856) 247-3000 HC MRI Upper Extremity Any Joint W/O Contrast $774.70 $7,747.00 $253.60–$4,545.00 90% —
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Inspira Health Center Woodbury Woodbury, NJ MRI UPPER EXT JOINT W/O CONT $1,249.97 $1,249.97 $215.18–$990.00 — Mar 24, 2026
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Inspira Medical Center Elmer Elmer, NJ · (856) 363-1000 MRI UPPER EXT JOINT W/O CONT $1,249.97 $1,249.97 $227.47–$990.00 — Mar 24, 2026
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Inspira Medical Center Mannington Salem, NJ MRI UPPER EXT JOINT W/O CONT $1,249.97 $1,249.97 $210.62–$990.00 — Mar 24, 2026
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Inspira Medical Center Mullica Hill Mullica Hill, NJ MRI UPPER EXT JOINT W/O CONT $1,249.97 $1,249.97 $227.47–$990.00 — Mar 24, 2026
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Nemours Children's Hospital Wilmington, DE · (302) 651-4000 MRI Upper Ext Joint W/O $1,482.00 $1,482.00 — — —
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Nemours Children's Hospital Wilmington, DE · (302) 651-4000 MRI Upper Ext Joint W/O $1,482.00 $1,482.00 — — —
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Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital one side Darby, PA · (215) 237-4000 HC MRI Upper Extremity Joint W/O Contrast Rt $1,634.75 $2,515.00 $196.10–$2,590.00 35% Mar 31, 2026
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Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital one side Darby, PA · (215) 237-4000 HC MRI Upper Extremity Joint W/O Contrast Lt $1,634.75 $2,515.00 $196.10–$2,590.00 35% Mar 31, 2026
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St Mary Medical Center one side Langhorne, PA · (215) 750-2003 HC MRI Upper Extremity Joint W/O Contrast Rt $2,143.05 — $205.78–$1,963.00 — Mar 31, 2026
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St Mary Medical Center one side Langhorne, PA · (215) 750-2003 HC MRI Upper Extremity Joint W/O Contrast Rt $2,143.05 $3,297.00 $205.78–$3,132.15 35% Mar 31, 2026
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St Mary Medical Center one side Langhorne, PA · (215) 750-2003 HC MRI Upper Extremity Joint W/O Contrast Lt $2,143.05 $3,297.00 $205.78–$3,132.15 35% Mar 31, 2026
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Shriners Childrens - Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA · (215) 430-4000 MRI JOINT UPR EXTREM W/O DYE $2,175.90 $2,175.90 $171.55–$647.42 — —
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St. Francis Hospital one side Wilmington, DE · (302) 421-4100 HC MRI Upper Extremity Joint W/O Contrast Lt $2,258.75 $3,475.00 $248.89–$3,336.00 35% Mar 31, 2026
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St. Francis Hospital one side Wilmington, DE · (302) 421-4100 HC MRI Upper Extremity Joint W/O Contrast Rt $2,258.75 $3,475.00 $248.89–$3,336.00 35% Mar 31, 2026
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St. Francis Hospital one side Wilmington, DE · (302) 421-4100 HC MRI Upper Extremity Joint W/O Contrast Rt $2,258.75 — $248.89–$1,951.00 — Mar 31, 2026
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Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital Darby, PA · (215) 237-4000 HC MRI Upper Extremity Joint W/O Contrast Bl $2,452.45 $3,773.00 $196.10–$3,773.00 35% Mar 31, 2026
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St Mary Medical Center Langhorne, PA · (215) 750-2003 HC MRI Upper Extremity Joint W/O Contrast Bl $3,214.90 $4,946.00 $205.78–$4,698.70 35% Mar 31, 2026
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Nazareth Hospital one side Philadelphia, PA · (215) 335-6000 HC MRI Upper Extremity Joint W/O Contrast Lt $3,370.25 $5,185.00 $205.78–$5,081.30 35% Mar 31, 2026
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Nazareth Hospital one side Philadelphia, PA · (215) 335-6000 HC MRI Upper Extremity Joint W/O Contrast Rt $3,370.25 $5,185.00 $205.78–$5,081.30 35% Mar 31, 2026
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St. Francis Hospital Wilmington, DE · (302) 421-4100 HC MRI Upper Extremity Joint W/O Contrast Bl $3,388.45 $5,213.00 $248.89–$5,004.48 35% Mar 31, 2026
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Riddle Memorial Hospital Media, PA · (610) 566-9400 Hc Mri Upper Ext Jt W/O Contrast $4,412.40 $11,031.00 — 60% Apr 1, 2026
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Paoli Hospital Paoli, PA · (610) 648-1000 Hc Mri Upper Ext Jt W/O Contrast $4,412.40 $11,031.00 — 60% Apr 1, 2026
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Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital Malvern, PA Hc Mri Upper Ext Jt W/O Contrast $4,412.40 $11,031.00 — 60% —
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The Bryn Mawr Hospital Bryn Mawr, PA · (610) 526-3000 Hc Mri Upper Ext Jt W/O Contrast $4,412.40 $11,031.00 — 60% —
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Lankenau Medical Center Wynnewood, PA · (610) 645-2000 Hc Mri Upper Ext Jt W/O Contrast $4,412.40 $11,031.00 — 60% Apr 1, 2026
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Nazareth Hospital Philadelphia, PA · (215) 335-6000 HC MRI Upper Extremity Joint W/O Contrast Bl $5,055.70 $7,778.00 $205.78–$7,622.44 35% Mar 31, 2026
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The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA · (215) 590-1000 MRI Ue Joint WO Contrast $9,542.67 $9,542.67 $363.15–$8,588.40 — —
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Inspira Health Center Woodbury both sides Woodbury, NJ MRI UPPER EXT JOINT W/O CONT-BILATERAL $2,499.93 $2,499.93 $269.88–$1,837.45 — Mar 24, 2026
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Inspira Medical Center Elmer both sides Elmer, NJ · (856) 363-1000 MRI UPPER EXT JOINT W/O CONT-BILATERAL $2,499.93 $2,499.93 $269.88–$1,837.45 — Mar 24, 2026
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Inspira Medical Center Mannington both sides Salem, NJ MRI UPPER EXT JOINT W/O CONT-BILATERAL $2,499.93 $2,499.93 $269.88–$1,837.45 — Mar 24, 2026
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Inspira Medical Center Mullica Hill both sides Mullica Hill, NJ MRI UPPER EXT JOINT W/O CONT-BILATERAL $2,499.93 $2,499.93 $268.44–$1,837.45 — Mar 24, 2026
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Outpatient: lowest $234.00, median $1,558.38, highest $9,542.67 — a 40.8× difference within the same market.

Both sides : lowest $2,499.93, median $2,499.93, highest $2,499.93.

The two groups are not comparable and are not averaged together: a price for both sides of the body covers twice the work. Merging them is how a single published "median" ends up far above what one side actually costs.

As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 14 facilities here, median $2,200.90. 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 9 of 16 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

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.