HIDA scan cost in Harrisburg, PA — inpatient
In Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA, 5 hospitals list a cash price for HIDA scan: nuclear imaging of the liver, bile ducts and gallbladder as an inpatient: from $163.80 to $1,228.80, with a median of $822.00. The lowest listed price is at UPMC Pinnacle Hospitals — $658.20 less than the median here. Across Pennsylvania, the median is $1,349.00 at 60 hospitals.
Cash prices at 5 facilities across 5 cities for code 78226, as an inpatient (admitted to hospital) . Collected Sep 23, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between — and —.
Where each hospital's price falls
Each dot is one hospital's cash price on a scale from the lowest to the highest in Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list | File date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UPMC Pinnacle Hospitals lowest Harrisburg, PA HC HEPAT DUC SYS MD | $163.80 | $273.00 | $177.45–$232.05 | 40% | — source file |
| Penn State Health Holy Spirit Medical Center Camp Hill, PA 78226 HEPATOBILIARY SYSTEM IMAGING Tech | $624.01 | $2,612.00 | $246.64–$2,089.60 | 76% | — source file |
| Penn State Health Holy Spirit Medical Center Camp Hill, PA 78226 NM HEPATOBILIARY IMAGING Tech | $624.01 | $2,612.00 | $246.64–$2,089.60 | 76% | — source file |
| Penn State Health Holy Spirit Medical Center Camp Hill, PA 78226 NM HIDA w/Drug Scan Tech | $624.01 | $2,612.00 | $246.64–$2,089.60 | 76% | — source file |
| Penn State Health Holy Spirit Medical Center Camp Hill, PA 78227 NM HIDA w/ Drug Injection/Scan Tech | $624.01 | $2,612.00 | $246.64–$2,089.60 | 76% | — source file |
| Penn State Health Hampden Medical Center Enola, PA 78226 HEPATOBILIARY SYSTEM IMAGING Tech | $822.00 | $2,612.00 | $332.10–$2,089.60 | 69% | — source file |
| Penn State Health Hampden Medical Center Enola, PA 78227 NM HIDA w/ Drug Injection/Scan Tech | $822.00 | $2,612.00 | $332.10–$2,089.60 | 69% | — source file |
| Penn State Health Hampden Medical Center Enola, PA 78226 NM HIDA w/Drug Scan Tech | $822.00 | $2,612.00 | $332.10–$2,089.60 | 69% | — source file |
| Penn State Health Hampden Medical Center Enola, PA 78226 NM HEPATOBILIARY IMAGING Tech | $822.00 | $2,612.00 | $332.10–$2,089.60 | 69% | — source file |
| Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center Hershey, PA NM* HEPATOBILIARY IMAGING | $865.36 | $2,612.00 | $360.39–$2,280.09 | 67% | — source file |
| Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center Hershey, PA NM Hepatobiliary Imaging - Report | $865.36 | $2,612.00 | $360.39–$2,280.09 | 67% | — source file |
| Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center Hershey, PA NM Hepatobiliary Imaging w/ Drug - Report | $865.36 | $2,612.00 | $360.39–$2,280.09 | 67% | — source file |
| UPMC Carlisle Carlisle, PA HC NM HEPATOBILIARY/GB NO PHARM | $1,228.80 | $2,048.00 | $835.58–$1,740.80 | 40% | — source file |
| UPMC Pinnacle Hospitals Harrisburg, PA HC HEPAT DUC SYS | $1,228.80 | $2,048.00 | $1,331.20–$1,740.80 | 40% | — source file |
| UPMC Carlisle Carlisle, PA HC HEPAT DUC SYS | $1,228.80 | $2,048.00 | $835.58–$1,740.80 | 40% | — source file |
| UPMC Pinnacle Hospitals Harrisburg, PA HC NM HEPATOBILIARY/GB NO PHARM | $1,228.80 | $2,048.00 | $1,331.20–$1,740.80 | 40% | — source file |
Inpatient: lowest $163.80, median $822.00, highest $1,228.80 — a 7.5× difference within the same market.
As an outpatient, the same code is billed by 5 facilities here, median $822.00 — that is the price to compare if you are not being admitted.
Cash or insurance?
At 5 of 5 hospitals that publish insurer rates for this code here, the cash price is below the highest rate a health plan has negotiated, and at 1 it is 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
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).