Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands)

This is the two-view hand x-ray, billed for both hands. Filming both hands together is the standard way to look at a joint disease rather than an injury: what is being read is which knuckles are involved, whether the same ones are involved on each side, and whether the bone at the joint edges has been eaten into.

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What it is

A single hand x-ray after an injury asks a narrow question about one bone. Two hands imaged together ask a different kind of question altogether. The hand contains a row of knuckles and three joints in most fingers, and different joint diseases pick out different ones — some settle on the knuckles closest to the palm, others on the joints at the fingertips, and some stay mostly on one side of the body while others mirror themselves across both. Laying the two hands side by side on the same study is what makes that pattern visible. Alongside the pattern, the reader is looking at the width of each joint space and at the edges of the bone, where inflammation can carve out small notches long before the finger looks deformed.

Why it is done

To work out the pattern of joint involvement across both hands when a joint disease is suspected, since which joints are affected and how symmetrically is part of the diagnosis
To look for narrowing of the joint spaces and for erosion at the bone edges
To provide a baseline that later films can be compared against, so change over years can be measured rather than guessed at
To check the hands for changes from other conditions that leave marks in bone, or for calcium deposits in and around joints
To document deformity and alignment in hands that have already been damaged, ahead of a decision about surgery or splinting

What to expect

Both hands are laid palm down on the plate, often together, and then angled or turned for the second view; positioning sponges hold stiff fingers as flat as they will go. Hands that do not open fully are worked around rather than forced. The exposures are instant and the appointment is short, with nothing needed beforehand. The report from the radiologist describes each hand and usually compares the two. If the study is a baseline, the point of it is what the next one will be measured against.

Questions worth asking

Are both hands covered by one code here, or has the claim been split into two separate hand studies?
If both hands and both wrists were imaged at the same visit, how many separate x-ray charges does that produce?
When films are repeated to follow a condition over years, can they be done at the same facility each time, so comparison does not require a fresh baseline and a fresh charge?
Does the practice bill for the images and the reading together, or will a radiologist's professional fee arrive as a second bill weeks later?

What Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) costs by state

Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Texas — 109 hospitals, median $318.00
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Florida — 82 hospitals, median $638.30
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Ohio — 67 hospitals, median $370.50
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in California — 66 hospitals, median $320.40
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Illinois — 51 hospitals, median $379.44
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Virginia — 43 hospitals, median $244.00
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Tennessee — 38 hospitals, median $72.75
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Pennsylvania — 33 hospitals, median $280.00
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Wisconsin — 33 hospitals, median $310.20
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Iowa — 29 hospitals, median $235.95
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Michigan — 27 hospitals, median $392.52
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Indiana — 26 hospitals, median $343.20
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Georgia — 25 hospitals, median $388.00
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Washington — 25 hospitals, median $368.00
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in New Jersey — 23 hospitals, median $117.81
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in New York — 23 hospitals, median $125.84
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Arizona — 22 hospitals, median $96.82
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Kentucky — 22 hospitals, median $427.67
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Missouri — 21 hospitals, median $189.20
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Minnesota — 19 hospitals, median $257.66
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Oklahoma — 18 hospitals, median $284.70
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Colorado — 17 hospitals, median $966.21
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in West Virginia — 17 hospitals, median $261.00
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in North Carolina — 15 hospitals, median $201.75
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Nebraska — 13 hospitals, median $171.78
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Oregon — 13 hospitals, median $252.75
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Kansas — 11 hospitals, median $345.80
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Mississippi — 11 hospitals, median $97.20
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in South Carolina — 11 hospitals, median $230.40
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Arkansas — 10 hospitals, median $211.90
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Maine — 7 hospitals, median $294.10
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in South Dakota — 7 hospitals, median $253.60
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Alaska — 5 hospitals, median $570.96
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Nevada — 4 hospitals, median $379.87
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in North Dakota — 4 hospitals, median $193.60
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Wyoming — 4 hospitals, median $161.22
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Hawaii — 2 hospitals, median $165.12
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Maryland — 2 hospitals, median $89.40
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Montana — 2 hospitals, median $169.60
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in New Mexico — 2 hospitals, median $253.68
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in Louisiana — 1 hospitals, median $108.42
Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost in New Hampshire — 1 hospitals, median $256.45

Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) prices at hospitals

See every published price for Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands): the full national range, the state and hospital breakdowns, and which hospitals charge the least.

Hand X-ray (2 views, both hands) cost — see all prices →

Sources

MedlinePlus: Rheumatoid arthritis (opens in a new tab, leaves healthcosts.net)
RadiologyInfo (RSNA/ACR): X-ray (Radiography) - Bone (opens in a new tab, leaves healthcosts.net)
Wikipedia (opens in a new tab, leaves healthcosts.net)

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