Columbus → MRI of the lower back
MRI of the lower back in Columbus
Across 10 of 13 hospitals, the self-pay price runs from $1,236 to $1,309.
For scale: Medicare pays hospitals about $244 for this as an outpatient service — the 2026 national rate, before local wage adjustment.
| Hospital | Self-pay price | List price | Insurers pay | Publishes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationwide Children's Hospital nationwidechildrens.org · Columbus | $315–$2,430 varies | $2,700 | $79–$2,646 | C |
| Mount Carmel East mountcarmelhealth.com · Columbus | $1,236 | $1,902 | $198–$1,904 | C |
| Mount Carmel Grove City Mount Carmel Health System (Trinity Health) · Grove City | $1,236 | $1,902 | $198–$1,904 | C |
| Diley Ridge Medical Center mountcarmelhealth.com · Canal Winchester | $1,236 | $1,902 | $202–$1,914 | C |
| Mount Carmel Dublin mountcarmelhealth.com · Dublin | $1,236 | $1,902 | $202–$1,904 | C |
| Mount Carmel St. Ann's mountcarmelhealth.com · Westerville | $1,236 | $1,902 | $202–$1,904 | C |
| Mount Carmel New Albany Surgical Hospital mountcarmelhealth.com · New Albany | $1,236 | $1,902 | $202–$1,904 | C |
| Grant Medical Center OhioHealth · Columbus | $1,309 | $2,014 | $230 | C |
| Riverside Methodist Hospital OhioHealth · Columbus | $1,309 | $2,014 | $230 | C |
| Dublin Methodist Hospital OhioHealth · Dublin | $1,309 | $2,014 | $230 | C |
| Doctors Hospital OhioHealth · Columbus | $1,309 | $2,014 | $235 | C |
| Ohio State University Hospitals wexnermedical.osu.edu · Columbus | not published | $2,580 | $3–$2,580 | F |
| James Cancer Hospital OSU Wexner Medical Center · Columbus | not published | $2,580 | $565–$2,956 | F |
What these three numbers mean
Self-pay price is what the hospital says it charges someone paying directly. It is the number to ask for by name. List price is the undiscounted charge almost nobody pays. Insurers pay is the range of procedure-specific negotiated rates in the file — useful mainly to see whether the self-pay price is above or below what insurers get.
Some hospitals attach one flat rate to nearly their whole price list. Those are excluded here, because a number identical for a colonoscopy and a blood test says nothing about either. More on that →
Billing code CPT 72148 —
MRI lumbar spine without contrast. Every price on this page is read from the hospital's
own published file; open a hospital to see which file and when it was read.