Scans and imaging CPT 78226 Outpatient

HIDA scan cost in Glendale, CA

In Glendale, CA, 1 hospital lists a cash price for HIDA scan: nuclear imaging of the liver, bile ducts and gallbladder: from $2,815.50 to $2,815.50, with a median of $2,815.50. Across California, the median is $1,836.80 at 94 hospitals.

Cash prices at 1 facility 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.

Lowest$2,815.50USC Verdugo Hills Hospital
Median$2,815.50half pay less
Highest$2,815.50in this market
Difference1.0×highest vs lowest

Hospitals, cheapest first

HospitalCash price List priceInsurers payOff listFile date
USC Verdugo Hills Hospital Glendale, CA Hepatobiliary System Imaging $2,815.50 $2,815.50 — — Apr 1, 2026
source file

Outpatient: lowest $2,815.50, median $2,815.50, highest $2,815.50.

As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 1 facility here, median $2,815.50. 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).