Scans and imaging CPT 77081 Outpatient

Peripheral bone density scan cost in Pittsburgh, PA

In Pittsburgh, PA, 17 hospitals list a cash price for DEXA bone density scan of the wrist, heel or finger (peripheral): from $88.80 to $639.60, with a median of $183.89. The lowest listed price is at Armstrong County Memorial Hospital — $95.09 less than the median here. Across Pennsylvania, the median is $180.90 at 90 hospitals.

  • The median here, $183.89, is 4% below the US median of $192.36.
  • That is 2.1× Medicare's 2026 national rate for the same service ($88.91).
  • Pittsburgh, PA ranks 2nd of 2 metro areas in Pennsylvania by median, cheapest first.
  • Every hospital here lists a cash price below its full list price.

Cash prices at 17 facilities across 13 cities for code 77081, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Nov 10, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Dec 17, 2025 and Oct 28, 2026.

Lowest$88.80Armstrong County Memorial Hospital
Median$183.89half of hospitals charge less
Highest$639.60in this market
Difference7.2×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 Pittsburgh, PA.

median
Lowest $88.80Highest $639.60

Hospitals, cheapest first

HospitalCash priceList priceInsurers payOff list
Armstrong County Memorial Hospital lowest Kittanning, PA BONE MINERAL DENSITY PERIPHER File of Mar 2, 2026 · source file $88.80 $296.00 $19.45–$296.00 70%
Uniontown Hospital Uniontown, PA · (724) 430-5000 DXA BONE DENSITY APPENDICULR File of Jul 9, 2026 · source file $94.00 $188.00 $6.95–$196.54 50%
UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital Pittsburgh, PA · (412) 641-4010 HC DEXA APPEND SKEL PERIPHERAL File of Mar 6, 2026 · source file $121.20 $202.00 $30.23–$285.40 40%
UPMC Mercy Pittsburgh, PA · (412) 232-8111 DEXA APPEND SKEL PERIPHERAL File of Mar 6, 2026 · source file $121.20 $202.00 $30.23–$276.75 40%
Excela Health Latrobe Hospital Latrobe, PA · (724) 832-4000 MM BONE DENSITY EXTREMITY File of Dec 17, 2025 · source file $127.20 $212.00 $32.98–$226.62 40%
Excela Health Westmoreland Regional Hospital Greeensburg, PA · (724) 832-4000 MM BONE DENSITY EXTREM File of Dec 17, 2025 · source file $127.20 $212.00 $32.98–$226.62 40%
Excela Health - Frick Hospital Mt Plesant, PA · (724) 547-1500 MM BONE DENSITY-EXTREMITY File of Dec 17, 2025 · source file $127.20 $212.00 $3.66–$35.95 40%
Butler Memorial Hospital Butler, PA Bone Density Dexa Wrist File of Jan 1, 2026 · source file $169.40 $242.00 $45.25–$254.10 30%
UPMC Washington Washington, PA · (724) 225-7000 DEXA BONE MINERAL STUDY APPEND File of Mar 6, 2026 · source file $183.89 $262.70 $31.60–$193.61 30%
UPMC Presbyterian Pittsburgh, PA · (412) 647-2345 DEXA APPEND SKEL PERIPHERAL File of Mar 6, 2026 · source file $192.00 $320.00 $21.22–$326.03 40%
Allegheny Valley Hospital Natrona Heights, PA · (412) 224-5100 HC DEXA BN DENSITY PERIPHERAL File of Oct 28, 2026 · source file $335.72 $436.00 $25.67–$267.60 23%
Forbes Hospital Monroeville, PA · (412) 858-2000 HC DEXA BN DENSITY PERIPHERAL File of Oct 28, 2026 · source file $340.08 $436.00 $25.67–$302.28 22%
Canonsburg General Hospital Canonsburg, PA · (724) 745-6100 HC DEXA BN DENSITY PERIPHERAL File of Oct 28, 2026 · source file $340.08 $436.00 $25.67–$266.61 22%
West Penn Hospital Pittsburgh, PA · (412) 578-5000 HC DEXA BN DENSITY PERIPHERAL File of Oct 28, 2026 · source file $353.32 $484.00 $28.29–$297.22 27%
Allegheny General Hospital Pittsburgh, PA · (412) 359-3131 HC DEXA BN DENSITY PERIPHERAL File of Oct 28, 2026 · source file $367.84 $484.00 $25.67–$295.25 24%
Jefferson Regional Medical Center Jefferson Hills, PA · (412) 469-5000 HC DEXA BN DENSITY PERIPHERAL File of Oct 28, 2026 · source file $372.60 $460.00 $25.67–$277.47 19%
Monogahela Valley Hospital one side Monongahela, PA · (724) 258-1000 WRIST DEXA LEFT+1 more line at this price File of Feb 2, 2026 · source file $639.60 $1,066.00 $286.75–$1,306.38 40%
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.
At or below Medicare This cash price is at or below what Medicare pays a hospital for the same service, which is unusually low. It is what the hospital's file says; confirm it and what it includes before booking. More

Outpatient: lowest $88.80, median $183.89, highest $639.60 — a 7.2× difference within the same market.

As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 16 facilities here, median $180.70. 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 10 of 17 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 peripheral bone density scan is, what the price covers and why prices differ: Peripheral bone density scan explained.

1 row held back from this comparison

It is priced below $1 or below a tenth of the national median for code 77081 ($189.05). 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.

HospitalCash priceFile
UPMC Passavant - McCandless Pittsburgh, PAHC DEXA APPEND SKEL PERIPHERAL $12.00 file
File Link to the hospital's own price file.