Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips)

This is a plain X-ray series covering both hips together with the pelvis, done as three or four pictures from different angles. Imaging both sides at once lets the radiologist compare the painful hip against the other one. It takes only a few minutes and needs no preparation.

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What it is

A bone X-ray sends a small amount of radiation through the body onto a detector; dense bone blocks more of it and shows up white, while soft tissue and air appear in grays and black. This code describes the bilateral version of a hip study — both hip joints imaged, with the pelvis included in the picture — taken as three or four separate views. The extra views come from repositioning the leg or angling the beam so the ball-and-socket joint is seen from more than one direction, since a crack or a subtle change in joint space can hide on a single projection. The pelvis comes along because the socket is part of it, and because a symmetrical picture gives the radiologist the unaffected side as a built-in comparison.

Why it is done

To look for a fracture or a dislocation after a fall or another injury
To assess arthritis in the hip, where narrowing and changes at the joint margins are judged partly by how one side compares with the other
To check the position of hardware or a replacement joint after hip surgery
To investigate hip, groin, or buttock pain that has not settled

What to expect

There is no preparation. Metal — belt buckles, zippers, coins in a pocket — comes off or out, and a gown is often used because clothing fasteners land right over the area being imaged. The patient lies on a table while a technologist positions the legs, often rotating the feet inward for one of the views, and asks for stillness and sometimes a held breath during each exposure. The exam is painless in itself, though holding a position can hurt if the hip is injured, and the table is hard. Most studies run five to ten minutes. A radiologist reads the images afterward and reports to the clinician who ordered them.

Questions worth asking

Is the bilateral study billed once, or as two separate one-sided hip X-rays?
Does the number of views change the code and the price, and who decides how many are taken?
Was a pelvis X-ray also ordered separately, and if so, is it duplicating what this study already covers?
Is the radiologist reading these images part of the same group as the facility, or does the reading arrive as its own bill?

What Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) costs by state

Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Texas — 109 hospitals, median $507.75
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in California — 88 hospitals, median $494.00
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Florida — 75 hospitals, median $1,197.30
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Ohio — 65 hospitals, median $475.50
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Illinois — 51 hospitals, median $525.00
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Virginia — 41 hospitals, median $357.50
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Tennessee — 38 hospitals, median $164.49
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Wisconsin — 33 hospitals, median $494.34
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Washington — 32 hospitals, median $323.60
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Pennsylvania — 31 hospitals, median $414.00
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Iowa — 30 hospitals, median $306.80
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Michigan — 27 hospitals, median $381.00
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Indiana — 26 hospitals, median $370.80
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Georgia — 25 hospitals, median $310.78
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Arizona — 23 hospitals, median $116.87
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Kentucky — 22 hospitals, median $577.80
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in New Jersey — 22 hospitals, median $117.81
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in New York — 21 hospitals, median $125.84
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Minnesota — 19 hospitals, median $461.78
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Missouri — 18 hospitals, median $419.90
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Oklahoma — 18 hospitals, median $445.25
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Colorado — 17 hospitals, median $427.25
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in West Virginia — 17 hospitals, median $271.50
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in North Carolina — 15 hospitals, median $551.20
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Oregon — 13 hospitals, median $485.25
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Nebraska — 12 hospitals, median $170.20
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Arkansas — 11 hospitals, median $258.05
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Kansas — 11 hospitals, median $1,303.86
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Mississippi — 11 hospitals, median $142.80
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in South Carolina — 11 hospitals, median $357.00
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Maine — 7 hospitals, median $504.15
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in South Dakota — 7 hospitals, median $495.20
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Alaska — 5 hospitals, median $840.06
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Nevada — 4 hospitals, median $504.92
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in North Dakota — 4 hospitals, median $331.20
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Wyoming — 4 hospitals, median $313.28
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Hawaii — 2 hospitals, median $139.52
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Maryland — 2 hospitals, median $160.80
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Montana — 2 hospitals, median $230.40
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in New Mexico — 2 hospitals, median $634.62
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in Louisiana — 1 hospitals, median $199.94
Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost in New Hampshire — 1 hospitals, median $497.05

Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) prices at hospitals

See every published price for Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips): the full national range, the state and hospital breakdowns, and which hospitals charge the least.

Hip and Pelvis X-ray (3 to 4 views, both hips) cost — see all prices →

Sources

RadiologyInfo (RSNA and 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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