CPT 72255 · 1,095 hospitals reporting

Myelography thoracic spine

The same procedure costs $74.38 at one hospital and $22,044 at another — a 296× spread for what's billed under the same code. Median: $979.

Cheapest published

$74.38

1 entries below $50 already filtered. Remaining low values usually reflect partial-cost line items (professional fee only), not full bills.

Median across 1,095 hospitals

$979

The realistic middle of the cash-price distribution. Use this as your benchmark.

Most expensive

$22,044

Highest published price. Often a gross-charge "list price" rarely actually paid.

Price distribution

496 hospitals · log-scale x-axis

Each bar = number of hospitals charging in that price range. Emerald bar contains the median. Amber dots = entries we flagged as likely partial-cost line items (excluded from the table below).

Filter by state

Filter by your insurance

Sort

Why some prices look unrealistically low or high

Hospitals publish their machine-readable files (MRFs) the way they choose. A single procedure code can appear with very different prices depending on what's being charged:

Global price — facility + implant + anesthesia + surgeon. This is what you'd actually be billed.
Professional fee only — surgeon's portion. Often $500–$2,500 for a major procedure that costs $20K+ globally.
Facility fee only — operating room and recovery, no implant or surgeon.
Per-unit / per-minute charges — e.g. anesthesia time billed at $0.68/min appearing under a CPT code.
Rate multipliers — values like 0.85 meaning "85% of Medicare" rather than dollars.

We filter the most obvious artifacts (under $50, or 25× above the median), but rows in the $500–$2K range for a major procedure are typically professional-only and we can't always tell. Use the median and high-end as the realistic range; treat very low rows as partial-cost line items, not full bills.

500 hospitals reporting

Hospital	State	Gross	Cash price	Min negotiated	Max negotiated	Your insurer
CALIFORNIA HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER LA	CA	$2,019	$979	$1,393	$1,595	4 insurers
CALIFORNIA HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER LA	CA	$2,019	$979	$112	$2,917	5 insurers
MONTEFIORE ST LUKE'S CORNWALL	NY	—	$979	—	—	2 insurers
UCSF HEALTH ST. MARY'S HOSPITAL	CA	$1,402	$981	$125	$5,634	5 insurers
BATON ROUGE GENERAL MEDICAL CENTER	LA	$1,408	$986	—	—	5 insurers
THE GENERAL	LA	$1,408	$986	—	—	5 insurers
NORTHRIDGE HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER	CA	$3,456	$964	$2,765	$3,007	2 insurers
NORTHRIDGE HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER	CA	$3,456	$964	$125	$3,456	5 insurers
LANAI COMMUNITY HOSPITAL	HI	$2,564	$1,000	—	—	2 insurers
KULA HOSPITAL	HI	$2,564	$1,000	—	—	2 insurers
PARADISE VALLEY HOSPITAL	CA	$2,046	$1,003	$67.4	$2,046	5 insurers
GARDEN GROVE HOSPITAL & MEDICAL CENTER	CA	$3,950	$1,003	$67.4	$3,950	5 insurers
WEST ANAHEIM MEDICAL CENTER	CA	$1,597	$1,003	$67.4	$1,597	5 insurers
LA PALMA INTERCOMMUNITY HOSPITAL	CA	$1,597	$1,003	$67.4	$1,597	5 insurers
CENTINELA HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER	CA	$2,046	$1,003	$67.4	$2,046	5 insurers
SHERMAN OAKS HOSPITAL	CA	$740	$1,003	$67.4	$740	5 insurers
SHASTA REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER	CA	$3,309	$1,003	$67.4	$3,309	5 insurers
ST CLARE HOSPITAL	WA	$3,487	$1,005	$2,511	$2,615	2 insurers
ST CLARE HOSPITAL	WA	$3,487	$1,005	$895	$3,940	5 insurers
DIGNITY HEALTH - ARIZONA GENERAL HOSPITAL	AZ	$4,394	$1,006	$2,329	$3,590	2 insurers
DIGNITY HEALTH - ARIZONA GENERAL HOSPITAL	AZ	$4,394	$1,006	$113	$3,590	5 insurers
ST MARY MEDICAL CENTER	CA	$4,394	$1,006	$2,329	$3,590	2 insurers
ST MARY MEDICAL CENTER	CA	$4,394	$1,006	$113	$3,590	5 insurers
METRO NASHVILLE GENERAL HOSPITAL	TN	$1,684	$1,010	—	—	5 insurers
CHI ST ALEXIUS HEALTH DICKINSON	ND	$1,499	$944	$1,049	$1,454	5 insurers
CHI ST ALEXIUS HEALTH DICKINSON	ND	$1,499	$944	$630	$1,454	5 insurers
NEBRASKA SPINE HOSPITAL, LLC	NE	$1,982	$1,018	—	—	2 insurers
ST THOMAS MORE HOSPITAL	CO	$2,548	$1,019	—	—	5 insurers
HUNT REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER	TX	$1,436	$933	—	—	0 insurers
JEFFERSON EINSTEIN PHILADELPHIA HOSPITAL	PA	—	$926	—	—	5 insurers
JEFFERSON EINSTEIN MONTGOMERY HOSPITAL	PA	—	$926	—	—	5 insurers
IBERIA MEDICAL CENTER	LA	$1,725	$1,035	—	—	5 insurers
USA HEALTH UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL	AL	$1,194	$1,036	—	—	5 insurers
THE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL	NJ	$1,194	$1,036	—	—	5 insurers
UNIVERSITY HEALTH SYSTEM, INC	TN	$1,194	$1,036	—	—	5 insurers
HIGHPOINT HEALTH-TROUSDALE WITH ASCENSION SAINT	TN	$4,461	$1,039	—	—	5 insurers
HIGHPOINT HEALTH-RIVERVIEW WITH ASCENSION SAINT TH	TN	$4,461	$1,039	—	—	5 insurers
POMERENE HOSPITAL	OH	$1,147	$918	—	—	5 insurers
CHRISTUS ST FRANCES CABRINI HOSPITAL	LA	$3,504	$911	$233	$2,978	5 insurers
CHI SAINT JOSEPH FLAGET MEMORIAL HOSPITAL	KY	$2,469	$1,048	$1,802	$2,247	5 insurers