The Number

If you want to know how much an MRI costs at a hospital, you can call the front desk and ask, or go online and calculate an average based on state-reported data. Average price for MRI at Valley hospitals When researchers tried the first method, results were mixed. Pioneer Institute, a research organization in Boston, called 54 hospitals in six cities, including Los Angeles, and asked for the price of a magnetic resonance image, or MRI, for a left knee. They eventually got answers from 40 hospitals. “It was clear to the researchers that front-line employees at most of the hospitals had no idea what to do with price requests,” Pioneer reported. “They experienced long waits on hold, had to call multiple times and leave messages, endured multiple transfers and ultimately a number of dropped calls.” The second pricing method involves going to the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development website, locating the financial disclosure report for a hospital, finding the gross MRI revenue and number of MRIs during the year, and calculating an average price. Based on that methodology, the most expensive hospital for an MRI in the greater Valley was Northridge Hospital Medical Center at $6,795. The most economical was Mission Community Hospital in Panorama City at $1,645. The average among the 15 hospitals that perform MRIs in the region was $3,942. But these are general averages for all MRIs. When it comes to that left knee, you still could be in for a surprise. “The fact that there are people with high-deductible health plans who are foregoing care rather than value-shopping has led some to conclude that consumers aren’t interested in price data,” Pioneer Institute Executive Director Jim Stergios said in a statement. “But the real issue is that price information isn’t readily available in the health care marketplace.” – Joel Russell