CT scan, lower back (lumbar spine)
Facility: Doylestown Hospital
Billing Code: 72131 (CPT)
This hospital's typical commercial price is $248 compared to the $132 fair price benchmark.
4-Star CMS clinical quality rating paired with 1.88× fair market pricing.
Highest price of the 9 PA hospitals we have prices for — worth calling around.
Black dot = this hospital, among the 9 PA hospitals with a price for this procedure. Full list below.
Note: The cash price looks unusually high next to the insurance price — it may be the full list price, not a real cash discount. Call to confirm the self-pay rate.
A fair price for a CT scan, lower back (lumbar spine) is about $132 (about 1.2× the $107 Medicare rate). Doylestown Hospital charges insurers about $248, or about $2,752 in cash — well above the fair price. Located in Doylestown, PA.
This price is above the fair BaseRate — you may be able to pay less
Ask the hospital for the cash / self-pay price, check whether you qualify for financial assistance, or negotiate the bill down toward the fair price of about $132. Many patients pay well below the first number they’re quoted — the checklists below walk you through it.
What each insurance company pays
Which insurers have negotiated a price with this hospital for this procedure — and which haven’t.
4 of 6 major insurers have a published price at this hospital
Crossed out = this hospital hasn’t published a negotiated price for that insurer for this procedure. It doesn’t necessarily mean they aren’t accepted — ask your insurer.
| Insurance company | Price range | vs. Medicare |
|---|---|---|
| UnitedHealthcaremajor | $278 | 260% |
| Blue Cross Blue Shieldmajor | $103 - $826 | 96% |
| Aetnamajor | $109 - $2,025 | 102% |
| Cignamajor | $107 - $125 | 100% |
| Ambetter (Centene) | $108 | 101% |
| + 1 smaller / regional plan | $2,752 |
Self-Pay How to get the cash price
Insurance Before you use insurance
Estimate your out-of-pocket cost
A rough estimate of what you’d pay with insurance (deductible + coinsurance) versus paying the cash price yourself.
Other Procedures at Doylestown Hospital
Compare: CT scan, lower back (lumbar spine) at other PA hospitals
- Penn Highlands Connellsville · Connellsville $83
- Heritage Valley Beaver · Beaver $99
- Heritage Valley Sewickley · Sewickley $99
- Wellspan Evangelical Community Hospital · Lewisburg $103
- Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center · Wilkes Barre $103
- Penn State Health Hampden Medical Center · Enola $103
- Geisinger-Bloomsburg Hospital · Bloomsburg $104
- Penn State Health Lancaster Medical Center · Lancaster $104
Insurance negotiated median for the same procedure, sorted lowest first.
Audit a Bill or Quote at Doylestown Hospital (Zero PHI Required)
Statutory 501(r) AGB Cap Limits Bill to $999
At 274% FPL (201%–400% FPL tier), 26 U.S.C. § 501(r)(5) caps FAP-eligible bills at Amounts Generally Billed (36.3% of gross = $999).
Compare Prompt-Pay Cash Rate Against Remaining Deductible
Doylestown Hospital's published 45 CFR § 180 self-pay cash rate is $2,752 (vs. $248 commercial insurer median). Ask billing to reclassify the visit to prompt-pay self-pay if it beats your deductible.
Negotiate Toward $132 Fair BaseRate ($107 Medicare)
Your bill ($2,752) is $2,620 above the denoised Fair BaseRate ($132) and 25.7× the $107 Medicare rate.
Clinical Quality, Patient Experience & Infection Benchmarks
Source: CMS Hospital Care Compare. Clinical quality metrics summarize historical facility-wide cohorts and are not medical advice for individual care decisions.
How to Pay Less Nearby: Freestanding Centers, Insurer Leverage & Outpatient Savings
Verify the Raw Data: Official Hospital MRF, CMS Medicare.gov & Federal Filings
Safe-Harbor Data Corrections: Parsed directly from public 45 CFR § 180 hospital filings, CMS Care Compare, and CMS HCRIS cost reports. Hospital compliance officers may submit updated MRF URLs or rate tables for verification.