The Most Common Diagnostic Tests and Procedures in Our Emergency Department

If you believe you are having a medical or psychiatric emergency, please call 911 or go to your nearest hospital emergency department.

At Children's Hospital Colorado, we are committed to consumer transparency and quality. It's important to us that patients and families have the information they need about the cost of care within our system. As part of this effort, we want to help you understand the most common charges for diagnostic tests and procedures that you may see when you visit one of our emergency departments (ED).

Do these diagnostic tests and procedures in the ED represent the total cost of care?

The charges listed for these healthcare services are estimates of what to expect when you visit a Children's Colorado ED without health insurance, and may vary based on the circumstances at the time that the service is rendered.

In addition to a hospital's charge for a facility fee in the ED, a typical emergency department visit will include charges for services such as imaging, labs, procedures, pharmacy, and supplies. Please note that the charges below do not include physician or other certain health care providers' services. Patients may receive a separate bill for these services.

For more information, please read our billing guide for families.

I have health insurance. Will my charges be the same?

The information below applies to patients without health insurance (also called "self-pay"). The information does not apply to patients who have health insurance coverage through Medicaid, other government programs, an employer, or the private insurance market.

If a patient has health insurance, the amount the patient owes will depend on their plan and can include deductibles, co-payments and co-insurances. If you have health insurance, you should call your health insurer to determine accurate information about your financial responsibility for a particular healthcare service provided at Children's Colorado.

If you have questions about your bill, please contact our Patient Financial Services team at 720-777-6422.

Who should I call if I am uninsured and have questions?

If you are not covered by insurance, please call us at 720-777-7001 to talk to a financial counselor. They are available Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Common diagnostic tests and procedures in the Emergency Department

Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Code	Description of service	Average self-pay rate
31720	Clearance of airways	$102
36415	Routine venipuncture (i.e. starting an IV or drawing blood)	$22
36592	Collect blood from catheter	$117
70450	CT scan head/brain without dye	$1,422
71020	Chest x-ray (2 views front and side)	$335
73080	X-ray exam of elbow	$234
73090	X-ray exam of forearm	$287
73110	X-ray exam of wrist	$200
73130	X-ray exam of hand	$267
73140	X-ray exam of finger(s)	$259
73562	X-ray exam of knee	$325
73590	X-ray exam of lower leg	$248
73610	X-ray exam of ankle	$265
73630	X-ray exam of foot	$264
74000	X-ray exam of abdomen	$239
74020	X-ray exam of abdomen	$352
76705	Ultrasound exam of abdomen	$625
80048	Basic Metabolic panel	$144
80053	Comprehensive metabolic panel	$148
80320	Drug screen (alcohol)	$58
81001	Urine test (auto w/scope)	$99
81003	Urine test (auto w/o scope)	$36
82962	Blood sugar (glucose) test	$60
83690	Lipase test	$150
85025	Complete blood count test	$109
85652	Red blood cell sedimentation rate (automated)	$48
86140	C-reactive protein	$57
87040	Blood culture for bacteria	$527
87070	Culture, bacterial (other source aerobic)	$165
87077	Culture, bacterial, aerobic definitive identification	$63
87081	Culture screen only	$66
87086	Urine culture/colony count	$63
87088	Urine bacterial culture	$81
87186	Antimicrobial agent susceptibility study	$94
87205	Smear gram stain	$72
87581	Mycoplasma pneumonia testing	$54
87798	Infectious agent detection by amplified probe technique	$163
87880	Rapid strep test	$36
93005	Electrocardiogram tracing (EKG Test)	$223
93976	Vascular study	$775
94640	Airway inhalation treatment	$244
96360	First hour Intravenous hydration	$229
96361	Additional hour intravenous hydration	$196
94761	Multiple pulse oxygen readings	$261
96372	Intramuscular or subcutaneous medication injection	$99
96374	First intravenous medication, push technique	$220
96375	Additional intravenous medication, push technique	$317
98960	Education and training for patient self-care	$96
99156	Moderate sedation – first fifteen minutes	$224
99157	Moderate Sedation – additional 15 minutes	$77