Scans and imaging CPT 78226 Inpatient — admitted to hospital

HIDA scan cost in Houma, LA — inpatient

In Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA, 2 hospitals list a cash price for HIDA scan: nuclear imaging of the liver, bile ducts and gallbladder as an inpatient: from $574.20 to $2,898.00, with a median of $1,736.10. The lowest listed price is at Ochsner St Anne General Hospital — $1,161.90 less than the median here. Across Louisiana, the median is $571.27 at 42 hospitals.

Cash prices at 2 facilities across 2 cities for code 78226, as an inpatient (admitted to hospital) . Collected Sep 23, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between — and —.

Lowest$574.20Ochsner St Anne General Hospital
Median$1,736.10half pay less
Highest$2,898.00in this market
Difference5.0×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 Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA.

median
Lowest $574.20Highest $2,898.00

Hospitals, cheapest first

HospitalCash price List priceInsurers payOff listFile date
Ochsner St Anne General Hospital lowest Raceland, LA · (985) 537-6841 HC HEPATOBIL IMG INC GALLBLADDER $574.20 $1,305.00 — 56% —
source file
Leonard J Chabert Medical Center Houma, LA · (985) 873-2200 Hepatobiliary Syst Imaging W/Glbldr $2,898.00 $2,898.00 $252.33–$1,449.00 — —
source file

Inpatient: lowest $574.20, median $1,736.10, highest $2,898.00 — a 5.0× difference within the same market.

As an outpatient, the same code is billed by 2 facilities here, median $1,736.10 — that is the price to compare if you are not being admitted.

Cash or insurance?

At the one hospital here that publishes insurer rates for this code, the cash price is not below the highest rate a health plan has negotiated. 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).