Peripheral bone density scan cost in San Francisco, CA
In San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA, 24 hospitals list a cash price for DEXA bone density scan of the wrist, heel or finger (peripheral): from $276.64 to $540.00, with a median of $414.30. The lowest listed price is at Kaiser Foundation Hospital - Redwood City and 9 other hospitals — $137.66 less than the median here. Across California, the median is $276.64 at 145 hospitals.
- The median here, $414.30, is 115% above the US median of $192.36.
- That is 4.7× Medicare's 2026 national rate for the same service ($88.91).
- San Francisco, CA ranks 4th of 4 metro areas in California by median, cheapest first.
- 12 of 24 hospitals list a cash price equal to their full list price, with no self-pay discount.
Cash prices at 24 facilities across 17 cities for code 77081, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Oct 31, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Mar 26, 2026 and Jul 22, 2026.
Where each hospital's price falls
Each dot is one hospital's cash price on a scale from the lowest to the highest in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kaiser Foundation Hospital - Redwood City lowest Redwood City, CA · (650) 299-2000 DXA BONE DENSITY STUDY 1/>SITES APPENDICLR SKEL File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $276.64 | $494.00 | $118.00–$370.00 | 44% |
| Kaiser Fnd Hospital - Richmond Campus lowest Richmond, CA · (510) 752-1000 DXA BONE DENSITY STUDY 1/>SITES APPENDICLR SKEL File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $276.64 | $494.00 | $118.00–$370.00 | 44% |
| Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Francisco lowest San Francisco, CA · (415) 833-2646 DXA BONE DENSITY STUDY 1/>SITES APPENDICLR SKEL File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $276.64 | $494.00 | $118.00–$370.00 | 44% |
| Kaiser Foundation Hospital - Oakland/Richmond lowest Oakland, CA · (510) 752-1000 DXA BONE DENSITY STUDY 1/>SITES APPENDICLR SKEL File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $276.64 | $494.00 | $118.00–$370.00 | 44% |
| Kaiser Foundation Hospital - Fremont lowest Fremont, CA · (510) 784-4000 DXA BONE DENSITY STUDY 1/>SITES APPENDICLR SKEL File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $276.64 | $494.00 | $118.00–$370.00 | 44% |
| Kaiser Foundation Hospital - South San Francisco lowest South San Francisco, CA · (650) 742-3200 DXA BONE DENSITY STUDY 1/>SITES APPENDICLR SKEL File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $276.64 | $494.00 | $118.00–$370.00 | 44% |
| Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Rafael lowest San Rafael, CA · (415) 444-2000 DXA BONE DENSITY STUDY 1/>SITES APPENDICLR SKEL File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $276.64 | $494.00 | $118.00–$370.00 | 44% |
| Kaiser Foundation Hospital - Antioch lowest Antioch, CA · (925) 813-6500 DXA BONE DENSITY STUDY 1/>SITES APPENDICLR SKEL File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $276.64 | $494.00 | $118.00–$370.00 | 44% |
| Kaiser Foundation Hospital - San Leandro lowest San Leandro, CA · (510) 454-1000 DXA BONE DENSITY STUDY 1/>SITES APPENDICLR SKEL File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $276.64 | $494.00 | $118.00–$370.00 | 44% |
| Kaiser Foundation Hospital - Walnut Creek lowest Walnut Creek, CA · (925) 295-4000 DXA BONE DENSITY STUDY 1/>SITES APPENDICLR SKEL File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $276.64 | $494.00 | $118.00–$370.00 | 44% |
| Stanford Health Care Tri-Valley Pleasanton, CA · (925) 847-3000 Bone Density2 Appendicula File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $309.60 | $774.00 | — | 60% |
| MarinHealth Medical Center Greenbrae, CA · (415) 925-7900 DXA BONE DENSITY MEASUREMENT OF FOREARM; FINGER; HAND; OR FOOT File of Mar 26, 2026 · source file | $354.60 | $591.00 | $64.48–$2,330.00 | 40% |
| MarinHealth Medical Center Greenbrae, CA · (415) 925-7900 DXA BONE DENSITY APPENDICULR File of Mar 26, 2026 · source file | $366.19 | $610.31 | $64.48–$2,330.00 | 40% |
| Novato Community Hospital Novato, CA · (415) 209-1300 HCHG XR DEXA APPEN File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $474.00 | $474.00 | — | — |
| Mills Health Center San Mateo, CA · (650) 696-5400 HCHG XR DEXA APPEN File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $474.00 | $474.00 | — | — |
| Mills-Peninsula Medical Center Burlingame, CA · (650) 696-5400 HCHG XR DEXA APPEN File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $474.00 | $474.00 | — | — |
| Eden Medical Center Castro Valley, CA · (510) 537-1234 HCHG XR DEXA APPEN File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $474.00 | $474.00 | — | — |
| Alta Bates Summit Medical Center Oakland, CA · (510) 655-4000 HCHG XR DEXA APPEN File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $474.00 | $474.00 | — | — |
| Alta Bates Summit Medical Center - Alta Bates Camp Berkeley, CA · (510) 204-4444 HCHG XR DEXA APPEN File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $474.00 | $474.00 | — | — |
| Sutter Delta Medical Center Antioch, CA · (925) 779-7200 HCHG XR DEXA APPEN File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $474.00 | $474.00 | — | — |
| Alta Bates Summit Medical Center-Summit Campus-Hawthorne Oakland, CA · (510) 655-4000 HCHG XR DEXA APPEN File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $474.00 | $474.00 | — | — |
| California Pacific Medical Ctr-Davies Campus Hospital San Francisco, CA · (415) 600-6000 HCHG XR DEXA APPEN File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $474.00 | $474.00 | — | — |
| California Pacific Medical Center- Van Ness Campus San Francisco, CA · (415) 600-6000 HCHG XR DEXA APPEN File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $474.00 | $474.00 | — | — |
| Alta Bates Summit Medical Center - Herrick Campus Berkeley, CA · (510) 204-4444 HCHG XR DEXA APPEN File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $474.00 | $474.00 | — | — |
| Chinese Hospital San Francisco, CA · (415) 677-2480 DXA bone density measurement of forearm, finger, hand, or foot File of Jul 22, 2026 · source file | $540.00 | $540.00 | $36.00–$972.00 | — |
Outpatient: lowest $276.64, median $414.30, highest $540.00 — a 2.0× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 22 facilities here, median $424.80. 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 12 of 12 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.