HIDA scan cost in Wheeling, WV
In Wheeling, WV-OH, 2 hospitals list a cash price for HIDA scan: nuclear imaging of the liver, bile ducts and gallbladder: from $182.50 to $1,028.50, with a median of $605.50. The lowest listed price is at Reynolds Memorial Hospital — $423.00 less than the median here. Across West Virginia, the median is $875.75 at 16 hospitals.
Cash prices at 2 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 Jul 9, 2026 and Jul 9, 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 Wheeling, WV-OH.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list | File date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reynolds Memorial Hospital lowest Glen Dale, WV · (304) 843-3230 NUCLEAR MEDICINE STUDY OF LIVER AND BILE DUCT SYSTEM | $182.50 | $365.00 | $26.00–$667.80 | 50% | — source file |
| Wheeling Hospital Wheeling, WV · (304) 243-3000 NUCLEAR MEDICINE STUDY OF LIVER AND BILE DUCT SYSTEM | $1,028.50 | $2,057.00 | $26.00–$1,630.21 | 50% | Jul 9, 2026 source file |
| Wheeling Hospital Wheeling, WV · (304) 243-3000 HEPATOBILIARY SYSTEM IMAGING | $1,080.00 | $2,160.00 | $26.00–$1,630.21 | 50% | Jul 9, 2026 source file |
Outpatient: lowest $182.50, median $605.50, highest $1,028.50 — a 5.6× difference within the same market.
Cash or insurance?
At 2 of 2 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.
| Barnesville Hospital Association Barnesville, OHHEPATOBILIARY SYSTEM IMAGING | $41.50 | file |