HIDA scan cost in Pittsburgh, PA
In Pittsburgh, PA, 14 hospitals list a cash price for HIDA scan: nuclear imaging of the liver, bile ducts and gallbladder: from $414.50 to $4,581.00, with a median of $1,747.80. The lowest listed price is at Uniontown Hospital — $1,333.30 less than the median here. Across Pennsylvania, the median is $1,349.00 at 60 hospitals.
Cash prices at 14 facilities across 9 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 Mar 6, 2026 and Apr 14, 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 Pittsburgh, PA.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list | File date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uniontown Hospital lowest Uniontown, PA · (724) 430-5000 NUCLEAR MEDICINE STUDY OF LIVER AND BILE DUCT SYSTEM | $414.50 | $829.00 | $26.00–$902.83 | 50% | — source file |
| Uniontown Hospital Uniontown, PA · (724) 430-5000 HEPATOBILIARY SYSTEM IMAGING | $424.50 | $849.00 | $26.00–$902.83 | 50% | — source file |
| UPMC Washington Washington, PA · (724) 225-7000 HEPATOBILIARY SCAN-E | $608.16 | $868.80 | $278.37–$883.51 | 30% | — source file |
| AHN Wexford Hospital Wexford, PA · (412) 295-3319 HC NM HEPATOBILI SYS IMG W/WO GB IMG | $988.64 | $1,336.00 | $220.85–$1,284.32 | 26% | Apr 14, 2026 source file |
| UPMC Jameson New Castle, PA · (724) 656-4100 HEPATOBIL SYS IMG INC GB | $1,359.00 | $2,265.00 | $211.84–$1,993.20 | 40% | — source file |
| UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital Pittsburgh, PA · (412) 641-4010 HC HEPATOBIL SYS IMG INC GB | $1,359.00 | $2,265.00 | $204.85–$2,083.80 | 40% | — source file |
| UPMC Passavant - McCandless Pittsburgh, PA · (412) 367-6700 HC HEPATOBIL SYS IMG INC GB | $1,404.00 | $2,340.00 | $195.30–$1,989.00 | 40% | — source file |
| UPMC Mercy Pittsburgh, PA · (412) 232-8111 HEPATOBIL SYS IMG INC GB | $1,663.20 | $2,772.00 | $194.16–$2,494.80 | 40% | — source file |
| UPMC McKeesport McKeesport, PA · (412) 664-2000 HEPATOBIL SYS IMG INC GB | $1,832.40 | $3,054.00 | $198.72–$2,595.90 | 40% | — source file |
| UPMC Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA · (412) 692-5325 HEPATOBIL SYS IMG INC GB | $2,164.80 | $3,608.00 | $294.37–$3,247.20 | 40% | Mar 6, 2026 source file |
| UPMC East Monroeville, PA · (412) 357-3000 HEPATOBIL SYS IMG INC GB | $2,619.00 | $4,365.00 | $193.59–$3,492.00 | 40% | — source file |
| UPMC St Margaret Pittsburgh, PA · (412) 784-4000 HEPATOBIL SYS IMG INC GB | $2,640.60 | $4,401.00 | $195.78–$3,740.85 | 40% | — source file |
| Highlands Hospital Connellsville, PA · (724) 628-1500 NM HEPATOBILIARY | $2,919.00 | $4,865.00 | $1,639.50–$3,794.70 | 40% | — source file |
| Monogahela Valley Hospital Monongahela, PA · (724) 258-1000 HEPATOBILIARY SCAN | $2,919.00 | $4,865.00 | $1,308.69–$5,962.06 | 40% | — source file |
| UPMC Presbyterian Pittsburgh, PA · (412) 647-2345 HEPATOBIL SYS IMG INC GB | $4,581.00 | $7,635.00 | $210.15–$6,489.75 | 40% | Mar 6, 2026 source file |
Outpatient: lowest $414.50, median $1,747.80, highest $4,581.00 — a 11.1× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 13 facilities here, median $1,832.40. 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 14 of 14 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 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).
1 row held back from this comparison
It is priced below $1 or below a tenth of the national median for code 78226 ($1,280.00). 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.
| AHN Wexford Hospital Wexford, PACHG HEPATOBILIARY SYST IMAGING INCLUDING GALLBLADDER | $25.22 | file |