Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin)

This is the charge for a clinician giving you a shot — into a muscle or just under the skin — as treatment, as prevention, or as part of a test. It covers the act of administering the drug, not the drug itself, which is billed separately. It is one of the most common line items on a hospital or clinic bill.

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What it is

Some medicines cannot be swallowed, or work too slowly when they are, so they are delivered by needle instead. An intramuscular shot goes deep into muscle — the upper arm, the thigh, the hip — where the blood supply carries the drug away steadily. A subcutaneous shot goes into the layer of fat just under the skin, which absorbs more slowly still. This code is for the administration itself: a nurse or other clinician cleaning the skin, drawing up the right amount, giving the injection and disposing of the needle. The medicine that went into the syringe is a separate charge, and the two together are what actually appear on the bill.

Why it is done

To give a treatment that has to bypass the stomach, either because it would be destroyed there or because it is needed to act faster
To give a preventive medicine in a single visit rather than as a course of pills someone has to remember
To give a substance as part of a diagnostic test, so that its effect or its movement through the body can be observed
To deliver a drug to someone who cannot reliably swallow or absorb an oral form

What to expect

The clinician confirms what is being given, finds the site, wipes it with alcohol and lets it dry. An intramuscular needle goes in straight, at a right angle to the skin, and a subcutaneous one goes into a pinched fold of skin. The injection itself is over in seconds. Expect a brief sting, and sometimes an ache or tenderness at the site for a day or so afterwards. If several injections are given, they go in different places. Some medicines call for a period of observation afterwards, which can add time to the visit; ask beforehand if you have arranged a ride.

Questions worth asking

Is the drug itself billed separately from this administration charge, and what is the drug's own price at this facility?
If I receive more than one injection at the same visit, is each one billed, or only the first?
Is this being given during an office or clinic visit that will also carry its own visit charge?
Could this medicine be supplied through a pharmacy for self-injection at home instead, and how would that total compare?
Is there an observation period afterwards, and is that time billed as anything additional?

What Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) costs by state

Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Texas — 113 hospitals, median $182.79
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in California — 90 hospitals, median $140.29
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Florida — 81 hospitals, median $225.55
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Ohio — 67 hospitals, median $174.00
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Illinois — 50 hospitals, median $148.20
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Tennessee — 37 hospitals, median $35.20
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Virginia — 35 hospitals, median $93.50
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Pennsylvania — 34 hospitals, median $147.00
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Wisconsin — 34 hospitals, median $72.05
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Washington — 32 hospitals, median $124.80
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Michigan — 27 hospitals, median $183.20
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Indiana — 26 hospitals, median $148.20
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Georgia — 25 hospitals, median $221.00
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Arizona — 23 hospitals, median $65.10
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Iowa — 23 hospitals, median $130.19
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in New Jersey — 23 hospitals, median $78.78
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in New York — 23 hospitals, median $84.22
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Kentucky — 21 hospitals, median $118.80
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Missouri — 21 hospitals, median $138.05
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Minnesota — 19 hospitals, median $122.88
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Oklahoma — 18 hospitals, median $84.50
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Colorado — 17 hospitals, median $164.08
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in West Virginia — 17 hospitals, median $244.00
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in North Carolina — 15 hospitals, median $41.45
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Nebraska — 13 hospitals, median $109.62
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Oregon — 13 hospitals, median $163.50
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Arkansas — 11 hospitals, median $94.90
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Kansas — 11 hospitals, median $99.45
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Mississippi — 11 hospitals, median $59.04
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in South Carolina — 11 hospitals, median $117.50
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Maine — 7 hospitals, median $190.20
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in South Dakota — 7 hospitals, median $126.40
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Alaska — 5 hospitals, median $248.82
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Nevada — 4 hospitals, median $73.19
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in North Dakota — 4 hospitals, median $136.00
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Wyoming — 4 hospitals, median $106.20
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Hawaii — 2 hospitals, median $63.04
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Maryland — 2 hospitals, median $58.20
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Montana — 2 hospitals, median $136.80
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in New Mexico — 2 hospitals, median $164.22
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in Louisiana — 1 hospitals, median $56.42
Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost in New Hampshire — 1 hospitals, median $161.95

Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) prices at hospitals

See every published price for Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin): the full national range, the state and hospital breakdowns, and which hospitals charge the least.

Shot (Injection into Muscle or Under the Skin) cost — see all prices →

Sources

MedlinePlus: Giving an IM (intramuscular) injection (opens in a new tab, leaves healthcosts.net)

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