HIDA scan cost in Columbia, SC
In Columbia, SC, 3 hospitals list a cash price for HIDA scan: nuclear imaging of the liver, bile ducts and gallbladder: from $762.50 to $1,545.00, with a median of $762.50. The lowest listed price is at MUSC Health Columbia Medical Center Northeast and 1 other hospital. Across South Carolina, the median is $1,751.40 at 18 hospitals.
Cash prices at 3 facilities across 2 cities for code 78226, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Sep 23, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Apr 1, 2026 and Apr 1, 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 Columbia, SC.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list | File date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MUSC Health Columbia Medical Center Northeast lowest Columbia, SC HB HEPATOBILIARY SYS IMAGING | $762.50 | $1,525.00 | — | 50% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
| Musc Health Columbia Medical Center Downtown lowest Columbia, SC · (803) 256-5300 HB HEPATOBILIARY SYS IMAGING | $762.50 | $1,525.00 | — | 50% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
| Kershaw Medical Center Camden, SC · (803) 432-4311 HB HEPATOBILIARY SYS IMAGING | $1,545.00 | $3,090.00 | — | 50% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
Outpatient: lowest $762.50, median $762.50, highest $1,545.00 — a 2.0× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 3 facilities here, median $762.50. 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
A HIDA scan follows a radioactive tracer as the liver takes it up and releases it into the bile ducts, gallbladder and bowel. It is used to look for gallbladder inflammation, a blocked bile duct or a bile leak.
What the price covers
The hospital price usually covers the imaging. The tracer and the reading by a radiologist or nuclear medicine doctor are often billed separately. A scan that also measures how well the gallbladder empties after a medicine is given is billed under a different code (78227).