What a hospital facility charge covers (and what it doesn’t)

The prices on this site are facility charges: the hospital’s fee for the room, equipment, staff and supplies. The doctor who reads the scan or does the procedure usually bills separately.

Usually in the facility charge

• The scanner, procedure room or lab equipment, and the technologist or nurse.
• Routine supplies, and for CT with contrast often the contrast dye (some hospitals bill it as its own line).

Usually billed separately

• The radiologist’s reading of an MRI, CT, ultrasound, X-ray or mammogram (the “professional component”, billed with modifier 26).
• Anesthesia and the gastroenterologist for a colonoscopy or endoscopy, and pathology if a biopsy is taken.
• The blood draw for lab tests (CPT 36415), a small separate charge at many hospitals.

Why the final bill can differ

• The order changes: with contrast instead of without, a biopsy during a colonoscopy, extra views.
• The visit is billed as a hospital outpatient department visit, with a separate clinic fee.
• The file was updated after the date shown. Every price on this site shows the date the hospital published it.

Ask the hospital for the total, including any separate physician bills, before you book. If you are self-pay, ask for a Good Faith Estimate.